Book of Thoughts: The Verboten Spell
by Luna12
Summary: Helaine is being plagued by nightmares. Is she losing her mind, or is a sinister threat hanging over the Diadem? Takes place between Book of Nightmares and Book of War. Revised and Updated.
1. The Warning

Disclaimer: _Diadem: Worlds of Magic _does NOT belong to me. It belongs to Peel and his publishers, currently Llewellyn Worldwide. I highly respect his work and am making no profit from this, nor do I intend for this piece of fan fiction to interfere with his profits.

Author's Note: Takes place sometime after _Book of Nightmares_ and before _Book of War_

**-------**

_**Diadem: Book of Thoughts**_

**CHAPTER 1: "The Warning"**

**by Luna**

--------

It was the dead of the night when Score was abruptly awoken by the rough shaking of his blue friend, Pixel. "Hm, huh?", Score murmured groggily and none too happily. "What's goin' on?"

Pixel's voice was full of trepidation. "Something's wrong with Helaine."

Score snorted in reply. "What? More than the usual, you mean?"

Pixel shook his head at Score. "This is serious! You have to see for yourself."

That brought Score into full consciousness. Although a worrier by nature, Pixel was not one to exaggerate, and there was no mistaking the panic creeping into his voice. A bit shy and unsure of himself Pixel may be, but he was not a coward. Score forced his reluctant body out of bed and followed Pixel down the hallway and to the open doorway of their library.

From the hall he could see Helaine, wearing her large, medieval sleeping tunic. She was writing a strange script on the wall and her face was emotionless.

"Helaine, what on Dondar are you doing? It's the middle of the night. You of all people need your beauty sleep." Score joked as he entered the room. Despite the verbal barb, Helaine showed no recognition of either Score or Pixel; she only maintained her bizarre act of writing on the wall.

Now Score was feeling concerned. Helaine not rise to an insult, especially one he shot at her? He approached the girl and waved his hand in front of her face. She neither blinked nor flinched, obvious of his actions while her hand remained steady in its task.

"She's been like this for the past ten minutes,'' whispered Pixel. ''I think she's sleepwalking."

"Well, I guess we'll have to wake her up," answered Score simply.

"No!" exclaimed Pixel, but his warning came too late. Score had already started to shake Helaine awake. She gasped, and her eyes shut close. As if she were a marionette with its strings cut, her body went instantly limp and she started to collapse. Score quickly managed to catch her before Helaine hit the floor.

"You idiot! You're **never** supposed to wake a sleepwalker!" shouted Pixel angrily.

"Well, how was I supposed to know, Blue-boy?" retorted Score, starting to feel two emotions he hated: guilt and worry.

Helaine's eyes fluttered open, her entire body trembling and her face drained of all color. She turned her head frantically around the room, an unfamiliar expression of confusion mingled with fear on her face.

"What—why am I here?" she demanded, trying to rein her wavering voice into control.

"You were sleepwalking, and I, um, woke you up," answered Score, feeling slightly embarrassed at his possible mistake.

Helaine raised her eyebrows in an expression of surprise and incredulity, and then stared hard at Score's arms which were still supporting her shaking frame. Her face started to blush as she realized the awkwardness of her position.

"Score, please let me go."

"Think you can stand on your own alright?" he asked.

Helaine looked indignant. "Of course," she replied, her old haughty attitude creeping in. Helaine broke away from his arms, and managed to stand on her own power, although it took greater effort than she expected and she still shook slightly.

Score eyed Helaine carefully, knowing better than to trust Helaine's confident attitude regarding her health. The girl had a proud, stubborn tendency to walk away from a battle bloody and broken, all while claiming she was 'fine'.

Pixel, of course, was a bustle of worry. "Be honest, Helaine. How are you feeling? Is anything wrong?"

Helaine looked conflicted, trying to decide how truthful she should be. Both Pixel and Score noticed her pause and gave her a demanding, yet concerned look.

"I'm just a little jittery. I've had a few bad dreams of late."

"Do you have any idea why? Have you had past experiences of sleepwalking?" Pixel questioned. He had his familiar "figuring-out-the-puzzle" look on his face.

"I never have, not on Ordin. My maids or the servants would have noticed. What exactly was I doing while sleepwalking?"

Pixel pointed at the strange text on the wall. "You were writing that."

Helaine walked over to where the writing was.

"What does it mean?" asked Helaine.

"Beats us," shrugged Score. "I never did get my degree in sleepwalking gibberish."

Pixel (ignoring Score) continued to look deep in thought. His gift for solving complex riddles and decoding messages was in high gear. He smiled. "Of course! It's not written backward or upside-down, but in mirror writing. To read it you need to see its reflection." Pixel closed his eyes and magically summoned a mirror into the room. Score recognized it as one of the full length mirrors in the left wing's guest bedroom.

Tilting the mirror so its reflection faced the strange text, it read:

_**Prepare for the coming of Morphos**_

_**Beware the coming of Morphos**_

"Well, that makes a whole lot of sense," muttered Score sarcastically

"Who's Morphos?" Pixel asked Helaine.

"I have never heard the name before," replied Helaine, her brows crinkled in bewilderment. "I still have trouble believing that I wrote that, while sleepwalking no less!"

"Well, there's no use in losing more sleep over that tonight," added Score with a yawn. "I say we go to bed, and try to figure it out in the morning."

A large yawn also escaped Pixel's mouth. "Sounds like a plan to me,"heagreed. Score left the room, Pixel following right behind him. Realizing they were a person short, he turned around. "Are you coming, Helaine?"

Her fingers were tracing the mirror writing on the wall. "Yes," she said, her voice distant, "I'm coming".

------------------

A/N: Okay, I started writing this fic a _long_ time ago (in 6th grade). It's a work in progress, but I wanted to hear other fans' reactions and suggestions, so please review! Don't forget to visit my site, The Diadem Fanzone! www angelfire com / theforce / diadem


	2. Reunions

Disclaimer: _Diadem: Worlds of Magic _does NOT belong to me. It belongs to Peel and his publishers, currently Llewellyn Worldwide. I highly respect his work and am making no profit from this, nor do I intend for this piece of fan fiction to interfere with his profits.

Author's Note: Takes place sometime after _Book of Nightmares_ and before _Book of War_

**-------**

_**Diadem: Book of Thoughts**_

**CHAPTER 2: "Reunions"**

**by Luna**

--------

**S**hanara awoke with a cry, her heart frantic and her chest breathing hard. Outside her castle walls the dark night of Rawn was calm, contrasting in every way from the sorceress's mood. She had felt her powers reduced, as if one of her spells had been yanked violently away from her soul. She tried to still her fears. A magic-user with that much raw power targeting her was more than unwelcome; it was a death omen.

In her day she was undisputedly the most powerful sorceresses in her circuit of the Diadem, but she was far past her prime. With her powers of transformation and shape shifting, no one would suspect her as a day over twenty, but her insides knew better. Her magic was not as potent as it once was. In her present condition, a rival, young, upstart with the right amount of power could overthrow her reign. She quickly put on one of her full-length, figure fitting dresses and yelled to her familiar.

"Blink! You lazy, fat, good for nothing panda! Get up!"

"Oh bother! What now?" whined Blink; his voice was horse with sleep. He had been sleeping on top of his little padded tower, as usual. With his red-maroon fur and the humble size of a small housecat, Blink was obviously not an average panda. "Are those three friends of yours in trouble _again_?"

"Perhaps, but that is not what is troubling me. We have a threat of our own to deal with."

"Eh!" For once, Blink became fully alert without the use of a bribe. "What threat? Dragons? Unicorn revolt? Rogue magician?"

"Someone disrupted my containing spell. We must check the scrying pool. So, get up and help me get to work, or you'll never taste another meal."

Blink scowled. It wasn't bad enough having to be woken up in the middle of the night, but he had to (shudder) work _before_ breakfast. Reluctantly, he heaved himself into a seated potion.

"All right then. The sooner you find out what happened to your spell, the sooner I can eat." Blink climbed down his tower and despite his pudgy figure, scurried gracefully up Shanara's shoulder with the ease of an acrobat.

Shanara could feel Blink's energy flow within her. With their magical powers thus combined, there was little they could not call forth in the scrying pool. When infused with enough magic and the guidance of a skilled magician, the pool could show any scene from the recent past or present in the entire realm of the Diadem.

"What are we searching for?" asked Blink.

"A large sphere, ten feet across, made of _Chisal_ crystal and hollow within," said Shanara with so much steel in her voice that Blink dared not complain anymore.

"Which world?"

"This one."

An image rippled onto the pool. There appeared the crystal globe, but it had a large, three foot crack down its middle. Blink felt reminded of a broken egg, making his stomach growl.

Shanara had a look of pure horror on her face. "By the Deep Magic, I am too late!"

"Whatever is the matter? What was in the sphere?" asked Blink, genuinely concerned.

"Never mind!" snapped Shanara, surprising Blink. "Just keep concentrating on the pool."

Promptly, another image appeared. It was that of a boy, perhaps only ten years of age. By the light of the twin moons they could make out his face. His hair was jet-black and he smiled a devilish grin. He was adorned in a warm fur coat and was climbing steadily up an ice topped mountain, heading strait for Shanara's polar palace. Suddenly, the pool went black.

"What in the worlds?" shouted Blink. "That's never happened before!"

"We must leave, quickly!" shouted Shanara, ignoring Blink's questions.

Without warning the door to the study burst open. Out stepped the boy, triumph on his face.

"Hello, Mother," he said. "Remember me?"


	3. Perchance to Predict

Disclaimer: _Diadem: Worlds of Magic _does NOT belong to me. It belongs to Peel and his publishers, currently Llewellyn Worldwide. I highly respect his work and am making no profit from this, nor do I intend for this piece of fan fiction to interfere with his profits.

Author's Note: Takes place sometime after _Book of Nightmares_ and before _Book of War_

**-------**

_**Diadem: Book of Thoughts**_

**CHAPTER 3: "Perchance to Predict"**

**by Luna**

--------

A week had passed and the trio still couldn't figure out the meaning of Helaine's prophetic writing. But it was not the enigma of her sleepwalking that was troubling Helaine. Each night she was suffering from horrific nightmarish visions, which grew increasingly vivid as the days went by. These dreams Helaine kept to herself, unsure of what to make of them. Tonight, however, was far worse than all her previous nightmares combined.

A human scream, more chilling, pain-filled and bloodcurdling than was ever imagined to come from a mortal soul echoed throughout the castle. Pixel literally jumped out of his bed in fright. In seconds he was running out into the hallway, where he collided into Score.

"Did you hear that, too?" Score asked.

"Yeah, I think it came from Helaine's room."

With Score slightly in the lead, the two ran to Helaine's quarters and burst open the door. To Pixel's relief he found nothing too far out of the ordinary; there were no goblins, demons, or other creatures of magic in the room. The only person present besides themselves was Helaine, who was fretfully tossing and turning in her sleep. Tears streaked her face.

"Helaine, wake up!" shouted Score, shaking her. Like a bolt, Helaine sat strait up and was wide awake. She took a deep breath and looked around. She was safe, in her room on Dondar, but she still couldn't get her body to stop shaking and her pillow was soaked with cold sweat. It had happened again. The same, torturous nightmare she had been having for weeks.

"Are you all right?" asked Pixel. "We heard you screaming."

"Y-yeah, I was just having a bad dream. Sorry I woke you up," answered Helaine, starting to sound embarrassed.

Pixel looked concerned. "This isn't the first time something like this has happened, Helaine. Last week you were sleepwalking. Is anything wrong?"

"I--I..." She didn't know how to continue. She saw two pairs of concerned, friendly eyes upon her, but she couldn't bring herself to tell them what she had envisioned. At the same time, she couldn't bare to keep it all to herself any longer. "I've been having the same nightmares for weeks now. They just seem very real."

"Yeah, I always hate those I-went-to-school-in-my-underwear dreams," Score smirked at his own joke, but the smile was unabel to reach his eyes. He couldn't help but feel uneasy. Helaine was from the planet Ordin, where male warriors were trained to be fearless fighters. As a youth, Helaine disguised herself as the boy Renald and even became the best fighter of her castle. She had fought dragons, wyrms, vampire-ghosts and other gruesome creatures hideous enough to give Stephen King the willies, but Helaine had faced them all without any sign of fear. So what could possibly have frightened Helaine enough to make her scream like that?

"You guys can go back to bed now. I'm all right. Really," she lied unconvincingly, her embarrassment growing by the minute.

Score felt helpless, which in turn made him feel angry. All levity left him. "You've been acting strange all week, Helaine. You don't smile as much as you used to, you don't even join us for most meals anymore. You look exhausted and tired all day. Enough is enough!" Score slammed his fist against the wall in frustration. He turned his eyes to directly meet Helaine's. "So cut the stoic warrior crap and tell us!"

Helaine felt at a loss for words. She had never heard Score express such concern for her in all the years she had known him. Could he truly care that much about her? She felt flustered and unsure how to act. Her friends were worried about her, but what was the point of telling them what was in her dreams? Dreams weren't important, yet she had let them overrule her emotions and startle her friends. If she did tell them what she saw, she wouldn't be surprised if they thought she was going mad. She was already starting to doubt her own sanity, and she couldn't stand the thought of losing the respect of Score and Pixel over these nightmares. Telling Score the exact reason she had screamed tonight made her blush.

"I will be fine, Score. I, um, just get a little off when I lose sleep for a week straight, is all. These nightmares are sure to pass."

"Bull," Score replied, his hands crossed in front of his chest in defiance.

Helaine's face started to turn red as her temper got the best of her. "What did you say!" She was exhausted, frazzled and feeling horribly embarrassed, and although she often had trouble understanding Score's strange Earth colloquialisms, she was fairly certain either she or her honor had been insulted. Of all times, she was in no mood to put up with it now.

Pixel looked between the two bickering teenagers, at a loss for what to do. He had seen this scenario play out before and there usually was nothing he could do but let the two fools shout at each other.

"You heard me: Bull. As in everything you said was bull shit. That, and you're being bull-headed."

Helaine's face managed to turn another shade darker.

"Uh, how about we all calm do--" Pixel's feeble protests were cut off by the icy glare Helaine sent his way.

She pointed one firm finger towards the door. "Out of my quarters! Both of you!"

Score opened his mouth to protest when he felt himself lifted bodily by an unseen force and pushed out the door. "HELAINE!" His feet were a few inches above the floor and he was powerless to move. Obviously, Helaine had had enough and was using levitation to remove him.

Pixel, not wanting to be 'escorted' out the same way, made a speedy retreat on his own.

The door magically slammed behind them and in the same moment, Score was dropped to the floor.

Score picked himself up and started heading back towards Helaine's door, his emerald firmly in his palm and a mischievous smile on his face.

"Throw me out, eh?"

"Score, don't!" Pixel was firmly blocking the Earth boy's path.

"Aw, c'mon, Pix. She totally deserves it!"

"Maybe, but that's not going to help anything!" the smaller, blue-skinned boy grabbed Score's shirt sleeve and guided him down the hallway.

"It'd be fun..." Score pleaded, no longer feeling as angry, only playfully vindictive.

Pixel rolled his eyes at him. "You don't get it, do you?"

"Get what? Xena over there is hiding what's really bothering her and it's _my _problem, too, when I get dragged out of bed by her strange trances or screaming."

Sometimes, Pixel couldn't believe how dense his two friends were. "Yes, but barging in by enchanting her door away is only going to make things worse."

"Actually, I was going to turn her bed into sticky marshmallows. Hehe."

"Marsh-mallows?" For a moment Pixel lost his train of thought, curious as he was to the nature of this 'marshmallow'. He shook his head. "Whatever. The point is, you know how touchy Helaine is about never looking weak. It's a large part of her culture. Us barging in (twice now) when she's been vulnerable is only going to make her more upset and determined to pretend that nothing is wrong."

Pixel paused a moment to let his lecture sink in.

Score sighed. Now that he had calmed down, he knew Pixel was right. Not that he would ever consider Helaine 'weak' – that was as accurate as thinking sandpaper was smooth – but to prideful Helaine, being caught crying out from a nightmare was a sign of cowardice. And Helaine would rather die than show any signs of that. "So now what? I'd rather not wake up to Helaine screaming in terror anymore."

Pixel tapped his index finger on his cheek, in thought. "The most we can do is talk to her after she's calmed down – without making a large fuss or making her sound weak."

_'Easier said than done,'_ Score thought, but merely nodded. A large yawn escaped him and he stretched. "Until then, I'm going back to sleep. I'll turn Helaine's bed into a giant twinkie tomorrow."

"A thought you said 'mash-mellow?'"

Score staggered off to his bed with a shrug. "Same difference."

Pixel returned to his room unable to shake his uneasy feeling. As much as he wanted to sleep on the problem and deal with it in the morning, something was nagging at him to solve it now. Helaine was keeping something important from them, and he didn't like it one bit. He focused his thoughts on summoning Oracle, their knowledgeable, although slightly annoying, magical projection. Despite having once served the Triad, Oracle had served the trio faithfully since their defeat. Even though his uninvited appearance always resulted in disastrous news, Oracle was a good source for information and guidance.

Pixel focused on a mental image of Oracle and called out "Lizxov". He felt the little twist inside him that told him the spell had worked.

"You rang?" asked the tall pale figure in front of Pixel.

A few minutes later, Oracle was brought up to speed on the recent strange events.

"Hmm. Something like this was bound to happen," replied Oracle.

"What do you mean?" asked Pixel.

"Eremin had the gift of sight. As a youth, she would have intuitions of troubling events approaching; a tingling, bad feeling in the back of her mind."

"Just like Helaine when she foresees danger!" added Pixel.

"Ahem, yes," said Oracle, irritated that he had been interrupted. "As Eremin grew older and more powerful at magic, she began to have prophetic dreams and visions. Sometimes she would enter a trance. It became quite a nuisance because she couldn't control it or stop it. She'd be in the middle of a task one minute, such as talking or sleeping, and without warning enter a hypnotic state and start to speak or write cryptic messages of impending doom. In fact, it was Eremin's cursed gift of prescience that helped the Triad eliminate most of their future rivals and plots to overthrow their rein."

"Do you think that's what's happening to Helaine? The nightmares, the sleepwalking, it's all part of predicting the future?" asked Pixel, amazed. He loved the feeling of solving a tough problem, especially when it lead to more interesting questions.

"It would make sense. Essentially, she is Eremin, just as Score is Traxis and you are Nator," reasoned Oracle.

Pixel frowned. He didn't like being reminded that they were the reincarnated essence of the Triad. They were corrupt, arrogant, heartless dictators and he, Score, and Helaine couldn't deny being their potential nasty selves.

"Do you know who Morphos is?" asked Pixel.

"Why, yes. He was the love child of Shanara and Traxis."

"What! Shanara had a child? With _Traxis_?" It took all of Pixel's willpower to keep from stuttering. It was very close to hearing that Score (or at least his evil persona) had conceived a child with their sorceress friend.

"Yes. Traxis and Shanara were very fond of each for a time."

Oracle smiled at Pixel's astonishment. Although only a magical projection, he enjoyed gossip as much as most mortals.

"What else do you know?" asked Pixel, putting aside his shock, to gather more information.

"Eremin predicted that Morphos would someday destroy the Triad. Not for power, but for the thrill of destruction. Eremin's prediction occurred when Morphos was four years old. He was already showing great promise as a powerful, though slightly mad, magician. He used to brainwash humans and animals alike and make them fight each other to the death for his amusement. It was quite disturbing. Nator and Eremin decided the best course of action was to kill him before he could reach adulthood."

"They really killed him, even though he was just a kid?" inquired Pixel, appalled at the thought of murdering a child, even one such as Morphos.

"The Triad were undoubtedly ruthless dictators, but they did keep the Diadem in balance and eliminated destructive lunatics like Morphos. _However_, they didn't get to kill him," continued Oracle. "Morphos disappeared. It was suspected that Shanara found out about the plot and saved him, but they never had definitive evidence. Even under a slew of truth spells it seemed she had no part in it. The Triad failed to find him, despite all their tracking spells. Whether he's alive or dead is uncertain to this day."

"Hmm. Now this Morphos guy might be after us," summed Pixel, more to himself than to Oracle. "I should tell Shanara and the others. Thanks, Oracle."

Oracle shrugged, secretly pleased. "'Tis my job," he replied, and with a playful bow, vanished.


	4. It Begins

Disclaimer: _Diadem: Worlds of Magic _does NOT belong to me. It belongs to Peel and his publishers, currently Llewellyn Worldwide. I highly respect his work and am making no profit from this, nor do I intend for this piece of fan fiction to interfere with his profits.

Author's Note: Takes place sometime after _Book of Nightmares_ and before _Book of War_

**-------**

_**Diadem: Book of Thoughts**_

**CHAPTER 4: "It Begins"**

**by Luna**

--------

**CHAPTER 4**

Helaine starred at the back of her closed door, feeling a strange mixture of guilt and annoyance. Now that she was calming down, she felt a little bad for forcibly evicting her friends, especially since they were annoying her out of concern. Still, she was glad they were out of the room. A large chunk of her pride had just been chipped away; she felt mortified at screaming over a nightmare. She was a warrior and the daughter of a Lord, not some whimpering peasant! The last thing she wanted was to be poked and prodded by their questions. They were only dreams. They had to be.

Helaine had stopped shaking, but she felt unwilling to resume sleep, despite the protests from her exhausted body. "What is wrong with me?"she thought. Even she had experienced some fear when encountering an opponent -- only fools rushed in without _any_ fear -- but never before did she feel a sickening helplessness and apprehension. These were emotions new to Helaine, intensified each day by her reoccurring dreams.

Helaine place a hand on her forehead, trying to will away the remaining images of those dreams and the smothering, overpowering dread that refused to leave her, even after she awoke. She felt haunted by the mysterious, dark figure in her nightmares.

Each time she fell asleep her dreams became dreams within dreams. Images and events would flash in her mind. She would see herself, Pixel and Score trapped in sticky white stands, struggling to escape, while a small figure in the shadows laughed sinisterly. She would then "awaken" only to see herself battling Pixel and Score in a magic duel. Flame the unicorn, was also there, and for some reason she knew she was left with the decision to fight her human friends in order to save her unicorn companion. When the battle ended, Score's bloody and prostrate body lay before her. It was that image, clearer tonight than it had ever been before, that caused her to scream in such anguish. As much as she tried to deny it, Helaine realized her feelings for Score had begun to run far deeper than mere friendship. She wasn't entirely sure how she felt about the strange Earth boy, but the very idea of him being harmed, or worse, killed by her hands left her nauseous and trembling.

Sadly, that was only the beginning of her cycle of nightmares. More and more horrific images of a small figure, always hidden from her sight, causing destruction and pain across the Diadem would bombard her unconscious. Not until her tossing and turning resulted in her crashing painfully from her bed onto the cold, hard floor would she awake. Although an unpleasant rousing, it was far preferable to continuing the nightmare.

Helaine's night terrors were leaving her edgy and sleep deprived. She was starting to doubt her own sanity. What else could explain these strange dreams? Or worse, was she becoming Eremin? Was the dream a glimpse into her future, aiding some unseen enemy and causing the death of her friends? Madness seemed far safer to consider than the possibility of Score's blood on her hands.

She couldn't tell the others. She was too ashamed and frightened of their reactions.

Helaine clutched her head in her hands. Of all times, her sixth sense had started to detect danger. "Not now. Please, not now," she thought. However, it wasn't as strong a feeling as she was used to experiencing. Most of the time, she felt a strong, strange sense of alarm moments before an ambush or attack. This was a nagging feeling in the back of her mind, combined with her unshakable dread and apprehension. She tried to ignore it, but it persisted, making her uneasy.

Completely giving up on any chance of sleep, Helaine dressed herself. Suddenly, she felt a different but familiar tingling in the back of her mind, similar to an itch; someone was trying to communicate with her using telepathy. Helaine pulled her agate from her pouch to strengthen the connection.

Help! Help! We've been captured! exclaimed the voice inside her head.

Blink? Is that you?

Of course it's me. Shanara and I need your help! yelled the panda.

Slow down. What's wrong? Who has you captured?

Morphos! Shanara, he's brainwashed her and I'm next. I don't want to be made into a stuffed animal! cried Blink hysterically.

Did you say _Morphos_?

Yes! Now hurry! yelled the panda in panic.

Are you still on Rawn?

Of course I am. In Shanara's castle, hiding. Stop asking me questions and stop him before it's too late! He'll find me soon and know that I've contacted you.

But how will he know that? Helaine couldn't help but ask.

He can read your thoughts, see into your mind. He- Blink stopped suddenly in mid-thought.

BLINK! yelled Helaine with her mind. There was no answer. The psychic rapport was severed.


	5. Familiar Sight

Disclaimer: _Diadem: Worlds of Magic _does NOT belong to me. It belongs to Peel and his publishers, currently Llewellyn Worldwide. I highly respect his work and am making no profit from this, nor do I intend for this piece of fan fiction to interfere with his profits.

Author's Note: Takes place sometime after _Book of Nightmares_ and before _Book of War_

**-------**

_**Diadem: Book of Thoughts**_

**CHAPTER 5: "Familiar Sight"**

**by Luna**

--------

"So let me get this straight: we're running off to another world, to risk our lives fighting some mind-reading, magically-endowed, bastard child-villain named Morphos --- all so we can save a whining, talking panda?" asked Score.

"Yes," answered Pixel, used to Score's dry Earth humor in situations like these.

"Okay, just wanted to make sure we all knew what we were getting into."

"We're not going there just to save Blink," added Helaine sensibly. "Shanara's also in trouble and Morphos will not stop. He _will_ try to harm others."

Pixel perked up his ears at the certainty in Helaine's voice. "You know this for a fact?"

Helaine didn't know how to properly respond. Pixel had already debriefed his friends on his conversation with Oracle. After hearing that her strange writing had been an actual warning from her sixth sense abilities, she was certain that her dreams were also predictions, not simply nightmares. But to explain that to Pixel would mean he would begin to ask more about her dreams, and she wasn't ready to discuss the horror of those visions yet.

"This situation has bizarre written all over it," complained Score, but no one was paying attention to him.

Helaine opened her _Book of Magic_ and searched for the Portal spell. As magic-users the trio could travel from world to world using Portals -- magical rifts in space in which only magic-users and creatures of magic could use to travel. There were some limitations, though. The Diadem was formed in a number of circuits, and Portals could only transport someone to a world in the same circuit as their current location or to an adjacent circuit. Thankfully, Dondar was only one level higher than Rawn so they could travel directly there.

"Ready?" Helaine asked. Score and Pixel nodded solemnly. Helaine whispered a few words to herself and the book disappeared.

Pixel stared. "How did you do that?"

Helaine smiled. "Just a new spell I learned. It allows me to call _The Book of Magic_ whenever and wherever I need it. But it's time to get back to business."

The three held hands and united their strengths. Instantly, a familiar jagged circle of darkness formed in the air in front of them. The air seemed to crackle with electricity.

One by one, they each stepped into the Portal and found themselves surrounded by a world of white. All around them were ragged mountains that reached to the heavens. Snow seemed to come from all directions and visibility was less than three feet in front of them. Having spent most of his life in virtual reality, Pixel almost enjoyed the experience of feeling the bitter cold wind around him.

"What direction do we head in?" yelled Score over the wind. He was really starting to wish Portal transportation was a more precise art than simply dumping people on the correct planet.

Pixel took out his ruby, which enabled him to find anything once named. He closed his eyes and saw a clear picture of Shanara's ice palace east of where they were.

"This way!" he called, motioning with his right hand to follow him. He made a fireball in his left hand to provide visibility and heat.

"Brrr. We have got to remember to bring furs with us to Rawn," said Score, shivering. "I mean, really, who in their right minds would come to an arctic region in the mountains without coats? On second thought, don't answer that."

Helaine shook her head. Score had a strange sense of humor he liked to employ when he grew agitated or scared. Neither he nor Pixel were warriors accustomed to rough conditions, she had to remind herself, but Score's incessant whining never helped anyone's mood.

"We're here!" announced Pixel cheerfully. Helaine, Score and Pixel stared at the gleaming white fortress before them. The palace was easily a few hundred feet in height. It appeared to be made entirely out of blocks of ice, all shaped to form a large castle with spires, turrets, and ramparts. There were no noticeable doors or windows, however.

"Prepare yourselves," warned Helaine as she reached for her sapphire, "I'm going to levitate us inside the courtyard."

Score and Pixel felt Helaine's magic take hold as they rose off the ground and over the castle wall. Once inside the courtyard, the proper entrance into Shanara's castle was visible: a door composed of the same material as the rest of the castle, intricately carved with cryptic symbols and signs. It lay wide open.

"Okay, now I know something's wrong," said Score. "Shanara would never leave her door open like this."

"So you didn't believe me when I told you they had been captured?" asked Helaine.

Score looked uncomfortable. Luckily, Pixel broke the tension.

"Let me use my ruby to find where they are."

Pixel closed his eyes in concentration and then opened them, alarmed. "I can't read where he is. I get the vague impression that he's still inside, but it's as if my vision is being blocked!"

"I don't like this. We're walking straight into a trap."

Helaine nodded her agreement to Score's statement, and unconsciously brushed the sheath on her sword. "We have little choice other than to proceed with caution. Shanara and Blink are counting on us."

Score grumbled his agreement, and the trio walked through the door, Helaine first, followed by Pixel then Score.

Pixel continued to walk down the corridor, his senses alert for any sign of their foe. It disturbed him that his ruby wasn't working. As he turned the corner, a metallic shine caught his eye; it was entirely out of place in this castle of quartz crystal, stone and wood. Pixel turned back to examine it. The wall was not anything like the rest of the corridor. It was an electric green and black. In fact, it looked like a large computer chip embedded into the wall.

Pixel recognized that distortion. It happened in the VR programs he had used in Calomir. They were the visible evidence of a game file corruption.

"Helaine! Score! Quick, come take a look at --" Pixel stopped in mid-sentence as he realized that neither Helaine nor Score were next to him, although they had been seconds prior.

"Guys..." Pixel was feeling panicky. They couldn't have disappeared into thin air, and he hadn't felt any magical disturbances, so where were they?

"Pixel." Two familiar voices called out to him from behind.

Pixel whirled around sharply, aghast at who was before him.


	6. Forgotten Past

Disclaimer: _Diadem: Worlds of Magic _does NOT belong to me. It belongs to Peel and his publishers, currently Llewellyn Worldwide. I highly respect his work and am making no profit from this, nor do I intend for this piece of fan fiction to interfere with his profits.

Author's Note: Takes place sometime after _Book of Nightmares_ and before _Book of War_

**-------**

_**Diadem: Book of Thoughts**_

**CHAPTER 6: "Forgotten Past"**

**by Luna**

--------

Score was in a foul mood as he followed his comrades. Although he had to admit it was fun to be one of the most powerful magic-user's in the Diadem, he hardly thought it was worth the fights-to-the-death and responsibilities the role came with.

Score's thoughts were also dwelling on the news of Morphos' origin. He always had found Shanara attractive in that whoa-what-a-babe-but-she's-like-my-teacher kind of way, but now he was afraid it was the remnants of Traxis that had made him feel as he did. He never wanted to be like him.

Score's negative thoughts were broken abruptly after he rounded the corner; it was a dead-end. However, that wasn't what was disturbing him.

"Helaine? Pix? Where the hell did you guys disappear to?"

His friends, who had stood before him seconds before, were gone.

The corridor was no different than any other part of Shanara's home. The walls were covered in rich tapestries and lit by candles that magically never waxed. The only thing of note was a floor-to-ceiling mirror at the end of the passage.

The mirror seemed to call to Score, and he approached it cautiously. When the distance between him and the mirror had closed to a few inches, the mirror shimmered and rippled like a stone thrown upon still water. The mirror calmed again, but was no longer a reflection of Score and the room. The mirror showed the outside of a familiar apartment in New York City, Earth.

"What's going on here!" Score shouted. He did not like being played around with.

A thick, feminine voice echoed from the mirror. "I am the window of forgotten past. Enter me and doubt no longer."

"What?" Few things fazed Score nowadays. He had been on Dondar for a few years, adjusting to a world ruled by magic and not physics. But something about this mirror sent his nerves on edge.

"I don't have time for this," Score thought to himself. He had to find Helaine and Pixel, make sure they were okay, and then rescue the Diadem from another psychotic magic-wielding villain. There wasn't time to go playing with spooky mirrors.

"Another time," answered Score to the mirror. He was about to turn away, but the mirror's image changed again. It was now showing the inside of the apartment. A woman with dark curly hair had walked into the room. It was a face burned into Score's memory.

"Mom?" His voiced cracked as he spoke. She looked exactly as Score remembered her, the night before she died. His responsibilities, worries, and concerns over his friends and the Diadem vanished in an instant. He reached out to touch the mirror.

Upon contact, the mirror bubbled and swarmed over Score's body as an amoeba did its prey. When Score next opened his eyes he was on Earth, in his old apartment, staring at his mother.


	7. Return to Ordin

Disclaimer: _Diadem: Worlds of Magic _does NOT belong to me. It belongs to Peel and his publishers, currently Llewellyn Worldwide. I highly respect his work and am making no profit from this, nor do I intend for this piece of fan fiction to interfere with his profits.

Author's Note: Takes place sometime after _Book of Nightmares_ and before _Book of War_

**-------**

_**Diadem: Book of Thoughts**_

**CHAPTER 7: "Return to Ordin"**

**by Luna**

--------

Helaine walked purposely into Shanara's palace. She was determined not to show her fatigue or trepidation. Her sleepwalk-warning had come true, but she refused to let her nightmarish visions prove true as well. What was the use of having a sixth sense if fate was set in stone?

Trusting her prescience to warn her of any imminent danger, she was caught completely off guard; a trap Portal was embedded in the floor around the bend of the corridor. In an instant Helaine found herself on an all too familiar world. The air, the sky, the very sounds of the forest around her cried out to her senses. She was once more on Ordin, her homeworld. Not just anywhere on Ordin, but visible between the trees was her father's estate.

On a Rim World such as Ordin, Helaine knew she was trapped. There wasn't enough magical energy on the Rim of the Diadem to perform most of her magic, let alone create a Portal. Even her sixth sense abilities would be dampened on this world.

Before Helaine could pull out her agate and contact her friends, her mind tingled with warning. She drew forth her sword. Out of the woods from all sides, sprang armored men wearing the blue-green colors of the Border Lords.

"Who are you?" demanded a blond, bearded man. By his stature and tone of voice, Helaine knew he must be the commander of this small band.

Helaine hesitated before answering. Although these were clearly not magic-users who could use her true name against her, declaring herself as the Lady Helaine Votrin, daughter to Lord Votrin of the Inner Kingdom, an enemy rival to the Border Lords, was hardly a smart move.

"My name is no concern of yours. You should declare _yourself_, sir! You stand on Votrin lands, not your own home soil." Helaine still had her sword drawn, but in a more neutral position. She could as quickly raise it to her defense, or attack, as sheath it.

The men laughed. One of them, a rough looking, battle worn soldier spoke. "This _is_ our land. Where have you been, lass, to not hear that Votrin was vanquished more than five days past?"

Helaine turned ashen. It took all her warrior training to keep herself from shaking in shock and anger. Regardless, her face twitched slightly.

The bearded commander noticed her reaction, as subtle as it was.

"My name is Ilried, son of Eckrid. I am captain to these men. Now, your name and rank."

Helaine swallowed hard. "I am Renalda, a simple traveler."

Ilried was no longer paying attention to her words. His eyes were fixed upon Helaine's right hand. Helaine's middle finger bore a simple gold band, stamped with the insignia of the Votrin heir.

The ring was not something Helaine often wore, and never when in her guise as the boy "Renald", but after the incident with Score and his mother's locket Helaine found it wiser to keep such personal items close.

"Where did you get that ring!" Ilreid challenged. The closest soldier to Helaine grabbed her arm roughly, and sensing his move before he made it, Helaine was prepared enough to use his momentum to flip him over, breaking his wrist in the process.

Madness ensued. The fighters swarmed her, and it took all of Helaine's skill at the blade and her reduced power of prescience to keep her whole. Two men were down, permanently.

Ilreid signaled his remaining men to step back. "A woman skilled with a blade? You incompetent brutes! I will test her myself!" and charged Helaine.

Helaine deflected his blade as she stepped inside his guard. He jumped back as she swung her sword.

Ilreid's blade had a slightly longer reach than Helaine's, giving him a small advantage.

Helaine hurriedly brought back her weapon to block Ilreid's swing. His aim suddenly changed direction and Helaine blocked the sweeping attack intended for her legs by holding her sword vertically. She slid her blade along Ilreid's and pushed up her sword.

Ilredi stepped back and twisted the upper half of his body sideways, easily dodging the attack. The two of them separated.

They ran at each other again. Helaine blocked Ilreid's downward swing. Ilreid pulled back his sword and thrust. Helaine blocked again.

Growing fatigued, there was a split second in which Helaine left an opening. It was exactly what Ilreid was waiting for. Helaine brought up her sword from below. Ilreid's blade flashed. Neither one was in a position to avoid the other's blow.

The metallic ring of their swords sounded. It had happened faster than the eye could see. Ilreid's sword had changed direction in midair, and in response Helaine hurriedly jumped to the left.

The two warriors silently faced each other. Ilreid's sword had suddenly become shorter, the blade broken off about midway down. Helaine had gone for Ilreid's sword, seeing that if she went for Ilreid, Ilreid would go for the killing blow. The instant Ilreid realized his blade had been broken, he had moved closer, and changed the direction of his swing. Helaine's right sleeve was becoming stained in blood -- her sword arm was wounded! The tip of the blade had struck Helaine.

Both fighters separated, breathing hard. Helaine switched her sword to her left hand, wishing she was as ambidextrous as her sword master, Borigen.

Ilreid examined his broken blade, clearly angry. "Seize her," he commanded.

She was swarmed once more. She sensed a blow coming towards her head, one from behind and another from the right side. She couldn't block them all, but she would try. She was a Votrin, and she would die fighting.

She spun and ducked, avoiding the blow that was towards her head while parrying the blow that would have stabbed her in the back. But she was too late to block the attack from the side. The broadsword cut across her side and through her leather armor, burning like fire. The pain weakened her concentration enough for her opponent to knock the sword from her hand.

Ilried's broken blade was at her throat. She was defeated.


	8. Nightmare Time

Disclaimer: _Diadem: Worlds of Magic _does NOT belong to me. It belongs to Peel and his publishers, currently Llewellyn Worldwide. I highly respect his work and am making no profit from this, nor do I intend for this piece of fan fiction to interfere with his profits.

Author's Note: Takes place sometime after _Book of Nightmares_ and before _Book of War_

**-------**

_**Diadem: Book of Thoughts**_

**CHAPTER 8: "Nightmare Time"**

**by Luna**

--------

Morphos smiled, pleased with himself. The three teenage magic-users had fallen right into his trap. He had easily 'overheard' Blink's telepathic call for assistance. At first he was angry and even worried that Blink's friends would try and interfere with his fun, until he realized that "playing" with them would be even more amusing than killing them on the spot.

Oh, the surprise he received when he scanned their minds once they stepped foot into the castle. Reading minds was second nature to Morphos. He could hardly turn off his ability to absorb any and all memories and thoughts of a person he was near. Thus the shock he obtained when he discovered that the friends of Blink and his mother were the Triad's potential selves reincarnated. It seemed as if fate was hand-delivering him his chance for revenge.

His mind reading power made him privy to every inner demon and fear of the reincarnated Triad. All he had to do was plant the worst possible illusion in their minds, and then sit back to enjoy their fear and mental anguish; the perfect revenge and entertainment wrapped up in one.

Devising Shanara's punishment had been even easier. Morphos wanted her to pay for what she had done to him. He wanted her to feel as trapped and helpless as he was when she imprisoned him. Oh, yes. The blame was mainly on her as he saw it. What could be more fitting than forcing his own mother to be a slave to him; to love him or serve him on command, unable to control her own body? Yes, that was the perfect punishment. He didn't even have to force full mind control to enslave Shanara. All he had to do was make her believe that he was her master and that she was a helpless nothing without him.

Although it had been years since he had the opportunity to use his powers, he had learned much in his earlier childhood. Controlling the emotions of one's victims was just as effective as controlling the person entirely. As exercising complete control over another opponent took a draining amount of magic and effort, it was a trick he learned early on. To control his mother, it only took diminishing Shanara's free will and self confidence. Anything else would have forced him to resist her strong will constantly.

His thoughts focused back to the trio.

It was nightmare time.


	9. Reality Check

Disclaimer: _Diadem: Worlds of Magic _does NOT belong to me. It belongs to Peel and his publishers, currently Llewellyn Worldwide. I highly respect his work and am making no profit from this, nor do I intend for this piece of fan fiction to interfere with his profits.

Author's Note: Takes place sometime after _Book of Nightmares_ and before _Book of War_

**-------**

_**Diadem: Book of Thoughts**_

**CHAPTER 9: "Reality Check"**

**by Luna**

--------

"Thank the motherboard we were able to hack in!"

Pixel could not believe his eyes or ears. His best friends from Calomir, Byte and Digit, stood before him; just as he had seen them last in the virtual world.

"But you can't be here! You're in VR back home." Pixel felt frightened and confused. He lived for logic and rules. This made no sense at all.

Digit, always the least emotional of the three, calmly explained to the shocked Pixel. "You're right, Pix. We are on Calomir. And so are you."

Byte joined in. "The game we made for you has gone haywire. The AI matrix is out of control. You're _not_ on Rawn. Rawn doesn't even exist."

"What are you talking about! This is real… isn't it?"

Byte and Digit both shook their heads. "You're still logged in. You were always complaining about experiencing something more real, so we created the ultimate RPG fantasy world."

"Or so we thought," chimed in Byte, her voice full of bitter disappointment. "The equipment tapped so thoroughly into your brain impulses that it made you _believe_ it was the only reality."

Pixel could not, would not, allow himself to believe this. Everything he had experienced, the friends he had made -- all a lie? Nothing more than a computer simulation for his amusement?

"No." Pixel said firmly. "It doesn't add up. I don't have any memory of entering a Simo like this. EVER."

Digit looked at Byte, plainly worried. "See? The game's even blocked some of his true memories!"

Digit looked seriously at Pixel. "Before you entered this Simo, we had all been together in VR, remember? You were telling us your need for something more real to interact with."

Byte continued for him. "By the time we finished the Diadem Simo for you, you had already left your House. Fortunately for you, your parents sent out a 'bot to retrieve you. You remember that part, don't you?"

Pixel shook his head. "No, that's not how it happened. I was rescued from a pack of wild dogs by Hakar, the Beastial. Not by some robot."

Digit was shaking his head, as if trying to explain basic calculus to a 5 year-old. "_No_, it was a _robot_. Then you came home (after being disciplined by your parents a bit) and tried out our new Simo."

Pixel felt the beginnings of doubt in his own memories. "Why wouldn't I remember that?"

"Because it never happened," chimed a man's voice next to Pixel.

"Oracle!" Pixel yelled. Maybe he could get some straight answers.

Byte and Digit looked angry. "It's one of the renegade AI creations. Don't listen to him, Pixel!"

Oracle seemed to ignore the people in front of him. "Other than you, Pixel, no one here is real. You are trapped in an illusion of Morphos' making."

Digit's angry expression changed to smug calm. "Pixel, if you really don't believe us then put it to the test. Log off. If nothing happens, then that _thing_ over there was telling the truth."

Pixel nodded, wanting answers. "Computer, log off user Shalar Domain."

The world around him disappeared and Pixel found himself back in his room on Calomir, donning his VR helmet.

"No, no!" Pixel cried. It was all _fake_?

"Clever, but it's still an illusion."

"Oracle?" Pixel yanked off his helmet and was greeted by the sight of Oracle. His eyes twinkled in amusement.

"Morphos can't lose me that easily. As a magical projection, I'm out of his control. I have no living mind to tap into."

"So I wasn't in a VR Simo of the Diadem? I'm stuck in some illusion made by Morphos?"

Oracle nodded.

Pixel signed a huge breath of relief. "How do I get out?"

"Morphos' illusions are powerful. It will take the combined strengths of Helaine and Score to break the spell. However, _you_ are the only one who knows of the trap."

"Helaine and Score are trapped in illusions, too? Just great." Pixel paced around "his room", thinking.

"Oracle, why did you contact me first?"

Oracle smiled proudly. "Of my three masters, you are the most logical minded. It would be far easier to convince you that this is nothing but an illusion. I may not be able to convince the others by myself."

Pixel nodded in agreement. It wasn't arrogance, just acceptance of his abilities. "Contact Helaine first. She can use her agate to form a mental link between us all to communicate. We need to get out of these illusions!"

Oracle bowed and was gone.


	10. Prodigal Daughter

Disclaimer: _Diadem: Worlds of Magic _does NOT belong to me. It belongs to Peel and his publishers, currently Llewellyn Worldwide. I highly respect his work and am making no profit from this, nor do I intend for this piece of fan fiction to interfere with his profits.

Author's Note: Takes place sometime after _Book of Nightmares_ and before _Book of War_

**-------**

_**Diadem: Book of Thoughts**_

**CHAPTER 10: "Prodigal Daughter"**

**by Luna**

--------

Helaine was roughly led to the castle, her hands bound and her belongings apprehended. She was without sword or dagger. They had even removed her pouch of jewels! Although she could probably work some magic on this world without them, it would be nothing that could enable her to escape.

At the castle gates, Helaine's eyes filled with tears. The moat was tinged red with the blood of battle. Catapults had bombarded the outer defense walls leaving rubble and stone. Her father's once proud banner was gone, and in its place flew the insignia of the Border Lords.

The further inside she was led, the heavier her heart sank. In the courtyard was a burial pyre of bodies pilled on each other haphazardly. They were her father's men, slain in battle. The Border Lords soldiers were still pilling the dead as she was pushed forward. To her horror she recognized one of the newly pilled bodies.

It was Borigen. More than just her fighting instructor, he was the only true friend she had on this world. He had kept her male disguise a secret all the years she lived in the castle and taught her the skills of battle. He had been the warm father figure she always found lacking in her biological one. His death hit her hard and she found herself on her knees, shaking. To her disgust and pain she noticed that she was leaving a trail of blood from her wound. Untreated, she stood a likely chance of bleeding to death.

"Up on your feet, wench!", yelled one of Ilreid's men, yanking her up when she refused to move.

Her captors led her to her father's old throne room. His banners and tapestries had been torn down. The hall was full of the stench of death, no longer the lively place of feasts and talks she once knew.

Sitting in her father's old throne was a tall, heavy set man in his late forties. His dark beard was striped on either side of his cheek with grey.

Helaine was pushed to her knees as the rest of the men bowed in respect.

"What do you bring me, Ilreid?"

Ilreid stood and told his lord how Helaine had suspiciously appeared outside the castle grounds wearing the Votrin ring, and how upon questioning had fought, killing two of his men and seriously injuring five others.

"She refuses to tell us anything, my Lord Cuthar. I am most perplexed."

"What have we here? A woman who fights like a man?" Cuthar rose from his throne, rubbing his chin in thought. He approached Helaine, moving around her like a predatory cat circling its targeted prey.

Helaine held her head high, but refused to look the man in the face. "Such a pretty face for a warrior," Cuthar said as he grabbed Helaine's face and forced her to look at him. Outraged, Helaine spat directly in his eye.

The hall went deathly silent. Cuthar turned to his vassals, wiping away the spittle with his left hand. His voice filled with overconfidence and triumph.

"Ha! This is no ordinary wench, but the legendary Lady Helaine Votrin, come home at last!" Cuthar's eyes gleamed sinisterly as he addressed his people. "She is the noble-born who flaunted the laws of society, who disguised herself as a boy under Votrin's own nose, then bested his top warriors in fair combat!"

At Helaine's surprised look of shock he continued, "Don't look so shocked, _my lady_". Cuthar spoke her rightful title as if it were an insult. "You didn't think your blasphemy could remain secret for long? I had sent out some of my best men to kidnap you and prevent the alliance your father had in plan. Instead, you defeated my men in combat and fled, leaving poor old Votrin to believe we had murdered you." He smiled menacingly. "Without you, Votrin would have accomplished his alliances for peace. I am in your debt; this war and my resultant victory couldn't be without you."

Helaine was in shock. She never imagined that she could wreck such harm. She had started dressing as a male around the castle as a game, nothing more. Her warrior training under Borigen was a result she hadn't planned on, though it came to be her greatest passion. All she had ever wanted was to be treated as an equal and seen as something of worth by her father, a right she was denied in her feudal patriarchal society.

"Anything to add, _my lady_?"

"Where is my lord father, you pig!" was the only response she gave.

Cuthar smiled a vicious canine grin. He summoned a servant to him and whispered some instructions Helaine couldn't hear. The servant returned, looking rather pale and carrying a blood soaked satchel.

Cuthar took the bag from the boy, his smile never wavering.

"Meet your father, Lord Votrin!" Out of the sack Cuthar pulled forth a severed head. Its dark beard was smeared with blood and the dead eyes stared darkly, as if piercing into her very soul. A single involuntary tear trickled down her right cheek.

"I must say, Morphos really out did himself with this illusion."

Abruptly Oracle stood before Helaine, blocking her view from the grotesque sight.

"What did you say?" croaked Helaine, wondering if she had truly gone mad, while at the same time too afraid to believe Oracle's words.

"Can an illusion cause pain, sir?" Demanded Cuthar. "The lass you speak to bleeds from wounds in battle, battle in which two of my men were slain!"

Helaine winced, reminded of the physical pain of her injury. It all seemed so real, how could it be nothing more than a mind trick?

Oracle ignored him, speaking to Helaine as if no one else in the room existed.

"Contact Pixel, Helaine. He will confirm it."

"I can't. My pouch --"

Oracle shock his head. "Just contact Pixel. The pouch is still on your person. Morphos is only making you _believe_ that you don't have it."

Helaine closed her eyes, trying to forget the world around her. Oracle's advice had always been true before. She imagined that her agate was still in her pocket and focused her power through it.

Helaine? asked Pixel's clear voice in her head.

Pixel! Is Oracle right, is this all an illusion?

Yes. Now contact Score, we need to break out of this trap!


	11. Through the Looking Glass

Disclaimer: _Diadem: Worlds of Magic _does NOT belong to me. It belongs to Peel and his publishers, currently Llewellyn Worldwide. I highly respect his work and am making no profit from this, nor do I intend for this piece of fan fiction to interfere with his profits.

Author's Note: Takes place sometime after _Book of Nightmares_ and before _Book of War_

**-------**

_**Diadem: Book of Thoughts**_

**CHAPTER 11: "Through The Looking Glass"**

**by Luna**

--------

Score was standing in his old apartment, feeling disoriented. For a split second he thought he had seen his mother, but she was gone. He felt a strange sense of deja vu, as if he was reliving a moment, but one in which he could not fully recall.

Score walked through the kitchen towards the master bedroom. Each nook and cranny of the apartment was exactly as he remembered it. The door was closed and Score reached for the knob. His hand passed through the handle as if he were a ghost. "What!" he cried out, swallowing his panic. He kept trying to grasp hold of the door knob, and each time his hand simply passed through it. It felt as if his hand was passing through air.

Feeling slightly scared but daring, Score tried to touch the door itself. His entire arm went through it. Taking a deep breath, Score walked through the rest of the way. "Weird," he thought to himself. He looked around, but the room was empty. Again, everything was exactly as he remembered it from years past.

Frantically he searched the reminder of the small apartment, but his mother was nowhere to be found. The sound of a wooden chair scrapping against the linoleum floor brought Score's attention back to the master bedroom.

He ran; the door was now open a small crack. Score walked through the door and found a six year old, dark haired boy standing on a chair. The child was rummaging through Bad Tony's belongings. He paid no notice of Score's entrance, but continued his search through the drawer.

Score felt frozen in place as he watched his younger self. Matt, as the boy was called then, finally found his prey. Tony's gun was in the sock drawer, already loaded.

Matt held the gun in his hand, pointing it around the room saying "bang bang", as if playing an imaginary game of cops and robbers.

"Put that down, you idiot!" Score yelled at him. Score reached out to grab the gun from his hands, but as before he passed right through him unperceived.

The door creaked open and startled the young Matt. The gun went off in his hand towards the unexpected sound. Score and Matt's voices blended into a sad cacophony of screaming. Their mother lay on the floor, a pool of blood flowing from under her. Little Matt was crying and trying to revive his lifeless mother. Score ran from the room as if all the demons of hell were chasing him.

The moment he reached the exit to the apartment, Score heard a familiar voice inside his head.

Score, can you hear me?

He-helaine? his mental voice shook.

Good, I was able to reach you. Listen carefully: You're trapped in an illusion. As am I and Pixel. We need to work together or we're never going to get free.

Score clutched his head in his hands and tried to pull himself together. Illusion? I don't know about you, but I was sucked into Shanara's mirror of past memories or something. How do I get out?

Oracle appeared, silently as always, in front of Score. "This is no mirror magic. It is all an illusion by Morphos."

"But…it was so real…" Score muttered, as the information sank in. He had some experience with illusion magic before, when he and Helaine were fighting to save Pixel on the living planet Zarathan. The planet tapped into the inner fears of Score and Helaine and brought them to life using magic.

Score's shock soon receded into anger as he realized how badly he had been manipulated. Score screamed his fury and hurt at his unseen foe. "Morphos! Come out here you little bastard! I swear, I'm going to --"

Score, calm down, Pixel chimed in. We need to break free. Oracle said all we have to do is concentrate. If we pool our powers we stand a chance of getting free.

Score took a few deep breaths to steady his temper. He closed his eyes, and felt the connection between his friends via Helaine's telepathic magic. Pixel's aura and Helaine's were clear to his senses. When Score opened his eyes, he found himself in the same corridor he had "left" moments before. Next to him were Helaine and Pixel, looking as pale and shaken as him. Score pushed aside the vision of his dead mother for a moment and concentrated on the task at hand.

"You two alright?" he asked.

"Yeah. I'm okay. You?" responded Pixel.

Score gave a short nod. "Nothing that can't be fixed once I pound Morphos into a bloody pulp!"

Pixel was surprised at Score's aggressive attitude. He had never seen Score lose his temper this badly before. He wondered what personal nightmare Morphos made him live through. He turned to look at Helaine, who had remained quiet. She was examining her side with caution.

"It really was all an illusion," she breathed. Her side was completely healthy and normal.

"Let's not waste time," Score snapped. "Morphos might try and spring another illusion trap on us." Helaine instantly came to attention, surprised at Score's sudden authoritative tone. Pixel reached for his ruby for one more try at locating Morphos.

"I have his position!" announced Pixel. "He's in Shanara's study."

Score looked suspicious. "How come it's working now?"

Pixel shrugged his shoulders. "I'm not sure. Morphos' magic might have weakened after we broke his spell. He may no longer be able to block my finding power."

Helaine shook her head in disagreement. "No, it's to lure us in. His first plan failed. Now he's setting up another trap. I feel more danger around us."

"Trap or no trap, I'm going to kick his ass across the Diadem!" declared Score as he ran off towards the study. Helaine and Pixel were right behind him, trading worried looks; for Score to be this riled up for action they knew Morphos had hurt their friend worse than they could imagine.

Score burst into the study, followed closely behind by Helaine and Pixel. They stopped dead in the room, unsure of themselves. Before them was a boy of no more than ten years sitting comfortably in a chair, his feet were propped casually up on the desk.

''So, you finally found me,'' said the dark, blue-haired child. His voice cut through Helaine as she suppressed a shudder. She knew that voice from her nightmares.

The child took his feet off the desk to sit normally in the chair. His feet, which did not reach the ground, were kicking freely in a very innocent, childlike gesture. Morphos' eyes narrowed as he examined them.

"Your hologram ruined all my fun," he whined. A wicked smile formed on his childlike mouth, "but I know a better game to play. Come and catch me!'' he taunted, vanishing.


	12. Twisted Games

Disclaimer: _Diadem: Worlds of Magic _does NOT belong to me. It belongs to Peel and his publishers, currently Llewellyn Worldwide. I highly respect his work and am making no profit from this, nor do I intend for this piece of fan fiction to interfere with his profits.

Author's Note: Takes place sometime after _Book of Nightmares_ and before _Book of War_

**-------**

_**Diadem: Book of Thoughts**_

**CHAPTER 12: "Twisted Games"**

**by Luna**

--------

A piece of paper fluttered to the ground from where Morphos previously sat.

''Did he make himself invisible, or did he teleport?'' Score asked.

The trio remained unmoving and alert. The thought that Morphos was spying on them while invisible was unsettling.

Helaine removed her hand from its reflexive place on the hilt of her sword. "He's not here. I no longer sense any danger."

Score and Pixel relaxed slightly, and Pixel went to the chair to retrieve the piece of paper. It was a map drawn with crayons, the scrawl similar to a child's handwriting. Mountains, bodies of water, caves and forests were illustrated and labeled. A large 'X' was written over a wooded area labeled the ''Golden Forest''. The word Rawn was printed on top with the letter 'R' written backwards. A caption on the bottom read: ''X marks the spot''.

Pixel showed it to the others.

''He obviously wants us to follow him to this 'Golden Forest','' he remarked.

''It's a trap,'' warned Helaine. ''Just like the open door of the castle. Morphos _wanted_ us to come in. He used Shanara and Blink as bait." Anger towards Morphos rose and nearly choked her throat. She stubbornly forced it into submission and concentrated at the task at hand. "He's toying with us; first with our minds, and now with this ridiculous chase.''

"I for one am tired of being played around with!" shouted Score, knocking down one of the study chairs in frustration.

"A warrior who loses his temper loses his head, Score!" chided Helaine, alarmed at his uncharacteristic conduct. Score usually tried to keep _her_ temper in line, not the other way around. For once, Helaine tried to soothe his temper. "I know the illusion Morphos had you play out must have been terrible, but --"

"But nothing!" Score turned his face from his friends, his hands clenched into fists. "You couldn't possibly understand."

Helaine angrily grabbed Score and turned him around to face her. "How dare you presume that you alone suffered from what that demon showed us?" hollered Helaine, equally upset now.

His eyes were full of repressed sadness and violation. Helaine calmed herself down a notch and placed a gentle hand on Score's shoulder.

"How am I supposed to understand if you don't tell me? I'm not a mind-reader, Score." Her voice was both gentle and firm.

Score was not to be consoled and roughly shook off her touch. "As if you've been square with us!" he accused. "All those nightmares you've had, you won't even share them with us, and you expect me to tell you everything!"

"Uh, guys?" interjected Pixel, trying to break up the argument before it became ugly.

"What?" they shouted at him in unison.

"Can we resume this stupidity later? I think it's more important to stop Morphos than bicker."

"Agreed," she answered, crossing her arms.

Score sighed in response. "Well, what are our choices, Spock?"

Pixel cocked his head and decided to ignore Score's Earth expression. He could never understand them. ''We don't have many. We can't let him roam around causing trouble, but if we refuse to play along, he'll only hurt innocent people, or Shanara and Blink, in order to make us cooperate." Pixel folded the map and put it into his pocket. He didn't like being manipulated like this anymore than Score did, but he felt obligated to help Shanara and Blink. They had helped them more times than they could count.

"So we just play along with another one of his twisted games?" shouted Score, his temper beginning to rise again.

Helaine's voice remained calm and steady as she tried to cool her agitated friend. Their roles had been reversed, and it left her feeling uneasy. "It's the better of two evils, Score. At least this time, we'll be more prepared."

''We don't know Rawn that well,'' pointed out Pixel. ''Finding the Golden Forest, even with this map, will be difficult. We should try and get some help.''

Helaine smiled. "The Goblins."


	13. Friends in Low Places

Disclaimer: _Diadem: Worlds of Magic _does NOT belong to me. It belongs to Peel and his publishers, currently Llewellyn Worldwide. I highly respect his work and am making no profit from this, nor do I intend for this piece of fan fiction to interfere with his profits.

Author's Note: Takes place sometime after _Book of Nightmares_ and before _Book of War_

**-------**

_**Diadem: Book of Thoughts**_

**CHAPTER 13: "Friends in Low Places"**

**by Luna**

--------

"The Goblins? Wow, Helaine actually has a good idea,'' teased Score. Helaine simply shot him a look, knowing full well he was using his Earth humor again.

The mountain Goblins of Rawn had first acted hostile towards the three magic-users, but after a few gestures of goodwill, (including the slaying of a deadly wyrm in their tunnels and conjuring barrels of carbonated beverages), they were accepted as friends and allies.

''If anyone could help us on this world it would be them, or some of Dethrin's clan of centaurs,'' agreed Pixel, ''but finding and convincing Dethrin or the other centaurs to help us would be harder.''

Helaine nodded her agreement. ''Then it is settled; we go ask the Goblins''.

''But first,'' interrupted Score, ''we'll need some warmer clothing. I'm not repeating a trip outside in a T-shirt."

Score took out his emerald and concentrated on the trio's clothing. Helaine's leather armor along with Score and Pixel's shirts became thick fur coats.

''Awesome!'' said Pixel, impressed.

Helaine looked pleased, but slightly worried. ''You can change them back, right? I don't want to be without my armor for long.''

"Hmmm," a mischievous smile graced Score's lips.

"Score!" Helaine recognized that look.

"Hey, I was just thinking a slight change in clothing would look good on you. Would metallic underwear count as armor?"

"Score..." Helaine growled, her hands clenching the hilt of her sword.

''Oh, fine," he mock pouted. "I'll change them back to normal later.''

The three left the lone ice palace and journeyed back down the treacherous peak. The winter storm was not as severe as when they arrived and visibility had improved. Fewer clouds clung to the peak of the mountain. Cautiously, they followed Pixel and his glowing ruby down the side of the mountain.

About an hour later the three reached the small cave that led to one of the secret entrances into the Goblin tunnels. Pixel held out his hand and murmured the fire casting spell. A ball of fire formed in his hand, providing light and heat. He was disappointed at the size of it. On the inner circuit on Dondar where the magic was stronger, the fireball would have been three times its present size.

Score walked over to the right side wall of the cave and pressed in three areas of rock. A moment later, there was a loud cracking sound and the entire wall of the cave slid to the left. Flying chips and lumps of rock spewed forth, and Helaine took out her chrysoprase to repel the barrage of stones. Dust filled the air, making the three cough and choke.

Score looked at Helaine, ready to make a joke about ladies go first, but that there wasn't any ladies at present, and stopped. Helaine had a stern look on her face, as if she was expecting an ambush at any moment.

''Do you sense any trouble, Helaine?'' asked Score.

''Uh… no,'' replied Helaine. She didn't know how to answer. ''There's no _immediate_ danger, but…" Helaine faltered, unsure of how to describe her senses. "I just have a bad feeling, but it's different from the feeling I get when there's danger coming at us.''

"Woman's intuition, huh?" Score joked.

Helaine gave him a curdling look and marched into the cavern entrance. Score and Pixel quickly followed suit. Pixel then took the lead with his magic ball of fire lighting the way, followed by Helaine and then Score.

Pixel took out his ruby and concentrated on the location of Gunther, one of their first Goblin friends. Years had past since they last traveled into the Goblins' domain, but with Pixel's magic to guide them, it wasn't long until the boisterous voices of Goblins reached their ears.

The trio entered the giant Goblin hall. Although dark and gloomy in comparison to the outside world, its torch lit walls were bright and festive in comparison to the dark tunnels. As fortune would have it, they had stumbled upon the luncheon for the miners.

Silence filled the noisy hall as over a hundred green-blue, twisted, pig-nosed, pointy-eared faces stopped in mid bite to stare at the strange arrivals.

Score was the first to speak. "Uh, hi guys," he waved. "Long time no see."

"Score! Friends!" cried a recognizable voice. Gunther was one of the miners present. He recognized the trio immediately, and scolded his comrades for their rude behavior.

"Don't you remember our honorary Goblins? The Cola-Giver and the Wyrm-Slayer?" The Goblins instantly shouted cries of recognition. Pixel felt left out, having no specific title of his own.

The Goblins suddenly became friendly and welcoming, showing their guests to the table and offering them food and drink. As the trio was hungry, they accepted gladly. Gunther and the other Goblins instantly requested Score to refill their empty supplies of Cola. Score gladly complied and took creative license in transforming their ale into different flavors of soda.

During the meal, small talk was made as Gunther asked about how his honorary Goblin kin were and what adventures they had seen since they last met. The trio quickly told the Goblins of some of their adventures, such as defeating the magician on Dondar, aiding and befriending the unicorn herd, and the defeat of the Triad and restoration of the Diadem's natural magical flow.

Gunther and the other goblins were only too happy to listen to tales of adventures from the outside world. However, Score was feeling twitchy, worried about how much time they were wasting talking. Helaine actually was feeling more patient than Score, as her old life on Ordin was steeped in politics; she knew patience and the proper etiquette involved in requesting a favor.

Gunther noticed Score's itchy behavior.

"So, what is it you three _really_ want?"

The trio looked at each other.

"I'm no fool. We've heard nigh but a rumor or two of you since you left, and now you suddenly return?" Gunther shook his head and took a deep gulp of his transmuted root beer.

Score came right out and said it: "We need your aid in fighting the magic-user, Morphos."

Gunther's face lost all its jollity. ''You know we're your allies, but this is a matter for magicians, not Goblins.''

''What do you mean it's not your problem? Morphos is a threat to the entire Diadem!'' exclaimed Helaine.

''That's your opinion, not ours,'' replied Ronin. ''Goblins don't mess with magician fights. If we leave him alone, then he has no reason to hurt us, right? It's our way."

Another Goblin joined in the conversation. "We ignore the magicians so they will ignore us. It's the only safe way to get by in the Diadem, and we like it that way."

Gunther nodded. "We've lived by it for centuries without problems and we're not going to risk the rage of a powerful sorcerer. The only reason we are your friends and allies is that we made you honorary Goblins. Normally, we'd be glad to help you, but in this we cannot.''

''You mean you _will_ not,'' retorted Helaine angrily.

''Helaine killed the wyrm for you Goblins when you were in need, but you won't even lend a hand to help us when we're in trouble,'' shot Pixel.

''That was different,'' defended Cathor. ''We gave you your gemstones as a reward. Remember?''

Pixel frowned. "And the Cola?"

"Only fair to provide good drink to your hosts," was another Goblin's quick reply.

Pixel sighed. This didn't seem to go anywhere.

Gunther thought hard for a moment before speaking again. ''We can't help you three directly in this situation, we explained that to you already, but we may be able to be of some aid. You'll need transportation to the Golden Forest. Going on foot is long and perilous, even for magic-users, and our caves can't lead you there. We will lend you our ponies.''

''Thank you, Gunther,'' replied Pixel, trying to ease the tension.

Some of the other Goblins nodded their head in agreement. Some, however, looked as if they wanted nothing at all to do to with the humans, while others looked regretful that they couldn't do more.

Gunther led the way through the winding tunnels. Helaine could tell that they were rising to the surface by the freshening of the air. While they walked Gunther warned them of the dangers to expect.

"The Golden forest is no pleasant place. There's buzzing insects that drive you mad, poisonous ponds sprouting from fresh running water!"

His voice grew quiet for dramatic effect. "And that's not all… they say the forest was cursed by a wizard a hundred years ago."

They had reached the end of their journey and stood at the exit, sunlight shining through into the gloom.

All four of them were outside in the sunlight, blinking. Gunther squinted sharply and shielded his eyes, protecting his sensitive Goblin eyes. They stood in a meadow that led down toward a forest below them.

The leaves and trunks of the trees weren't the normal colors of Earth or the other Outer circuit worlds. There were blues, oranges, purples, and all shades in between. Aside from that, and their gigantic size, they seemed like normal trees. The others had adjusted already to the change in light, but Gunther kept shielded his eyes from the light with his hand. .

Gunther picked out and saddled three sturdy ponies. ''These are our best ponies,'' he lied. In reality they were their third best. Gunther, like all Goblins, knew how to arrange a business deal. It was best not to give the humans their best steeds given their questionable survival against Morphos.

Gunther resumed his jolly tone. "You'll see what I mean when you get there. Good luck!" he shouted, and scurried back to the gloom of the caves.


	14. Mistaken Identity

Disclaimer: _Diadem: Worlds of Magic _does NOT belong to me. It belongs to Peel and his publishers, currently Llewellyn Worldwide. I highly respect his work and am making no profit from this, nor do I intend for this piece of fan fiction to interfere with his profits.

Author's Note: Takes place sometime after _Book of Nightmares_ and before _Book of War_

**-------**

_**Diadem: Book of Thoughts**_

**CHAPTER 14: "Mistaken Identity"**

**by Luna**

--------

''It'll have to do,'' said Helaine as she mounted a reddish brown pony with ease.

"Speak for yourself,'' complained Score. "We don't know how to ride like you do.''

"Then you will have to learn. Think of this as practice,'' said Helaine.

"I say a teleport would have been easier,'' protested Score.

"Not really,'' added Pixel. "We have to travel a long way to get to the Golden Forest and a teleport would be too draining, not to mention risky. None of us have seen the Golden Forest to form an accurate image to teleport. Besides, something tells me we will need to be at full strength to fight Morphos.''

Score nodded grimly. Teleportations were extremely draining on magic-users. They would have been helpless against Morphos. Pixel made sense, but Score still didn't like the situation.

The pace of the ponies was slow, and Helaine began to hum to herself absently. The melody was haunting.

"Helaine, where's that from?" asked Pixel.

"The Ballad of Tithian. My favorite song the court minstrel performed in my father's House."

"Do you remember any of the lyrics?" he asked, genuinely interested. Helaine nodded and began to sing softly. She had good pitch, and the tragic tale, filled with death and self sacrifice, unfolded along with the haunting melody. In the end, the main hero Tithian was left alone to fight against impossible odds, his friends and comrades slain in a previous battle. The song ended with Tithian's pointless death.

"Very cheerful, Helaine. Did I mention that you had a warped childhood?" Score joked.

Helaine was indignant. "'Better to join your friends in death than to live a life of solitude'," she spoke with the authoritative air of quoting an unquestionable source.

"Oh? Where's that from?" asked Pixel.

''Sounds like a fortune cookie,'' teased Score.

"It's a saying on my world," Helaine answered proudly.

"Why am I not surprised?" replied Score in a mocking tone.

"And what is that supposed to mean?" asked Helaine warningly. Although slightly pleased to hear Score resuming his normal attitude, she would not stand for any slights against the honor of her family or anything relating to Ordin customs and beliefs.

"On my world, most people don't share your philosophy on death," replied Score, unafraid of Helaine's wrath. "A lot of people are cowards, like me. We'd rather save our own skins unless we have no choice but to fight. We have the opposite saying, 'Better to fight and runaway in order to see another day',"

Helaine snorted in contempt. She remembered how Score used to be when they first met, and he had changed a lot. He was no Ordinian warrior, but neither was he the street-punk coward that he pretended to be.

''Stand back and heads up,'' Helaine ordered, drawing her sword. ''I feel some attack under way.''

Although Score hated the way she would slip in to her old, noble and bossy attitude, he knew that arguing with her when there was oncoming danger was unwise.

A shuddering, screaming roar broke the tranquility of the forest. Pixel looked up and swallowed in the fear and awe at the sight before him.

Two huge shapes were plummeting down at them, claws outstretched. The giant creatures filled the sky, too large to be any ordinary bird. '_But then again_,' thought Pixel, '_in the Diadem the abnormal _was_ normal'_. Their wings shone like dim gold in the sun.

The trio's mounts went crazy with fear, rearing up on their hind legs to bolt. Helaine, being the only one who had had experience with ponies, was able to manually gain control over hers. Looking at Score and Pixel, however, she realized they would need help and fast. At any other time she would have laughed at the sight of Pixel and Score desperately trying to keep from getting tossed off the backs of their mounts.

Closing her eyes, Helaine grabbed her agate and first directed her magic toward the ponies. Be calm! Be still! ordered Helaine. Instantly the animals obeyed, trembling.

Realizing magic and not physical force was in order, Helaine sheathed her sword. She then concentrated her powers at the creatures above, throwing her magic out like a net. Listen to me! she pleaded with her thoughts.

Two wing beats in front of her, the creatures broke off their attack, curving to each side. They landed directly in front of Helaine and the others.

Score breathed a sigh of relief. He and Pixel had encountered a similar beast on Dondar, a sphinx who had the body of a lion, the chest and head of a woman, and bird wings. These creatures had some distinct differences. Sentience was visible in both their eyes, and while the sphinx was just terrifying, the griffins were magnificent. Sitting on his haunches, the male was seven feet tall and the female was seven and a half. Each of their claws was like daggers. Their bodies were that of a giant feathered lion, blending harmoniously into the head, beak and wings of an eagle. The female was gray silver in color and her mate was brown threaded in gold.

The two Griffins looked shocked. It can speak! cried the female, astonished. No two-leg has done that before.

Instinctively, Helaine covered her ears from the booming voice of the Griffin until she remembered that she was communicating telepathically, and covering her ears only worked against audible sounds.

The male cocked his head, predator's eyes glared down at Helaine. My mate speaks true. No two-leg has spoken to our kind before. So I give you the chance to speck to me, two-leg, before you die, his voice in Helaine's mind was deafening.

Helaine felt a rush of relief. She could communicate with them, and hopefully, reason with them as well. She dismounted and held out her hands in a non-threatening gesture.

We mean you no harm. If we have trespassed on your lands, we apologize, but we'll be leaving soon enough. Helaine knew that most creatures in the Diadem detested humans, and with good reason. Many human magicians would kill other species to obtain body parts to cast spells.

You know well enough why we're here! shouted the grey female, obviously over the shock of having a human speak to her. Senseless talk will get you no where.

''Uh, Helaine, what's going on?'' asked Score, looking shaken. She had forgotten to include Score and Pixel in her telepathic link.

Sorry, she apologized. I don't really know what's wrong, besides the fact they want to kill us.

You killed our brood, said the golden male, his tone dangerous. Don't pretend to be dumber that what you are.

We didn't kill anything argued Pixel. We just arrived here on Rawn. And we most certainly did not harm your brood.

Lies! yelled the female. What more can you expect from two-legs?

Please, hear us out. said Helaine sending thoughts of tranquility as well as her words. I think there's been a misunderstanding. Please, explain to us what happened.

The male shifted uncomfortably, and looked at his mate. She nodded and he spoke. My mate and I had five fine eggs that were to hatch any day now. I was away hunting with my mate. When we returned we saw three two-legs attacking our nest. A magical circle of protection encompassed our nest and we were unable to fight back against the attackers. He ruffled his feathered fur nervously. We were forced to watch as you males laughed while that female smashed our unborn children. We would recognize those butchers anywhere, and you three are they!

Pixel thought for a moment, knowing that the Griffins' patience was wearing thin. He knew that they were not the guilty party, but how could he prove it? He remembered the first time they arrived on Rawn and how a village of trolls thought they had burned their village. In reality it was an illusion cast by Shanara. The same situation seemed to have occurred again.

I'm sorry for your loss, but those people you saw were not us. They were probably a mental projection of us by a magician named Morphos, defended Pixel. He felt sure. It was one of his talents, being able to put very little information together, understand it, and uncover plots.

I saw you three two-legs destroy my children! yelled the female. They were to hatch any day. Now it will take three more years before we may have children again.

Helaine felt sorry for the griffins, but there was nothing she could do. If Morphos was indeed behind this, he had a lot to answer to. An idea came to Helaine: a truth spell. If the three of them couldn't lie, the griffins would know they spoke the truth.

Is there anyway at all that we can prove to you that we speak the truth? asked Helaine.

The male griffin shifted uncomfortably. He looked eager to have this business taken care of. Only one way. Behind you is a _kikai_ tree. No, not that one, fool! The one with the red leaves. The fruit from that tree, once eaten, forces that person to speak nothing but the truth. Only by eating that fruit will we believe you.

Helaine boldly picked a piece of the fruit and ate it. It was bright pink and it tasted bitter.

''Are you nuts?'' spoke Score orally, knowing the griffins couldn't understand him this way. "What if it's poisonous? They could be trying to trick you!''

''Well, if they wanted to harm us they would have continued to directly, Score,'' answered Pixel for Helaine.

Helaine defiantly finished the rest of the fruit.

The griffins appeared impressed by her boldness.

Helaine looked directly at them and spoke. I speak the truth. I and my companions did not harm your brood. We never came near your nest, and we wish you no harm.

The female looked shocked and hurt at Helaine's words. I apologize for blaming you three two-legs, but the deaths of our children will not go un-avenged. Are you certain that this 'Morphos' of whom you spoke did this?

Helaine shook her head. I'm not certain, but I wouldn't be surprised if he did.

Helaine could hear Score snickering behind her. She turned to face him. What are you laughing at?

Score and Pixel were grinning. At you. Look at your hands.

Helaine looked down at her hands. They were bright pink with purple spots!

Your face is the same way, too, pointed out Pixel.

We neglected to mention that the fruit also changes the skin color of two-legs, explained the male griffin. The change in your skin would prove that you didn't use your magic to counteract the effect of the fruit.

Will it wear off? asked Helaine in alarm. The thought of remaining bright pink with spots was not a happy one.

It will wear off… eventually, answered the female. I do not know how long. Once the coloring is gone, so are the effects of the fruit. It may take a couple of hours, or it could take weeks,

Score started laughing even harder. Helaine clenched her fists and counted to ten. She was more than tempted to slam a fist in Score's mouth.

''I have an idea,'' announced Pixel orally, interrupting the rising tensions between Helaine and Score. ''We can combine our powers to try and transform something into a griffin's egg. It doesn't make up for all of their lost children, but it's something.''

''What can we use?'' Helaine asked Pixel. ''It will be nearly impossible to create an egg out of thin air.''

Pixel looked around. There were plenty of trees and foliage, but that wouldn't be the ideal object to try and change. Then he spotted a rock a few feet away.

''How about that rock?'' pointed Pixel.

Helaine turned to Score, who had finally stopped snickering. ''Can you do that? Transform a rock into an egg?''

Score looked doubtful. "I think I need something more, like a living thing in order to make it work."

Pixel closed his eyes and concentrated, summoning a piece of the broken egg shell of the Griffins' brood

''If Score uses his emerald, and Helaine uses her opal, it might work. We just have to combine our powers," reasoned Pixel.

''We shouldn't tell them what we're doing,'' suggested Helaine. ''We don't want to give them false hopes.''

Pixel and Score nodded their agreement.

What are you planning? asked the male Griffin, both curious and suspicious.

A surprise replied Pixel, preventing Helaine the chance to speak. There was no telling how she would answer under the influence of the _kikai_ fruit.

What do Griffin eggs look like? asked Score.

The Griffins cocked their heads, puzzled. They are fairly large, the size of your head, oval, and white with gold spots.

Now that they knew what to create the three of them sat in a circle around the large rock, their hands joined. Score could feel himself linking with his friends, the power starting to flow. Score had his emerald out and was concentrating all of his energies, and the borrowed energies from Helaine and Pixel, into transforming the rock into a living griffin egg.

He felt the shock of the magic growing and moving around the rock. It left him drained and weak. Score opened his eyes and let go of Helaine and Pixel's hand. He smiled, despite his sudden fatigue, at what he saw. The jagged, grey rock on the forest floor had successfully transformed into a griffin egg.

Helaine gently picked up the egg and walked toward the Griffins. The egg felt warm and she sensed the movement within.

We know this single egg can never replace your loss, but I hope it will ease some of your pain she told them.

The male Griffen looked surprised, the female touched. This kindness will not be forgotten. You three are unlike any two-leggers we have ever met or heard of. You will always be considered friends among our kind. Farewell.

The female Griffin swooped down and carefully took the egg from Helaine's outstretched hands and flew out of sight, her mate beside her.

Score sat down on the forest floor. ''I don't know about you two, but I'm beat.''

''Me too,'' replied Pixel. Helaine nodded her agreement.

''Well, now we know that creating life from nonliving materials is draining,'' said Pixel.

''No kidding'' responded Score. He was struggling to keep himself awake.

Helaine took out her opal and closed her eyes.

''What are you planning to do?'' Asked Pixel.

''You'll see.''

Helaine concentrated her energies through her gem and pictured her skin in its normal color. When she opened her eyes she breathed a sigh of relief as she saw her magic had worked. By focusing her powers through her onyx, which had the property to shape-shift, Helaine had changed her skin color back to normal.

"I wasn't going to sit around with pink and purple skin."

"Too bad. I thought it was an improvement," mocked Score.

Helaine gave him a disapproving look. She knew Score was only joking, but she wasn't going to stand for too many of his wise cracks.

The trio rode for several more hours until the suns began to set. Once they reached a small clearing, Helaine halted her steed. "I think we should make camp for the night. The ponies need rest."

"Not to mention us!" mumbled Score, feeling the aches and sores from being in the saddle, as well as the strain from their last magical act.

With the aid of magic, setting up camp was quick and easy. Pixel summoned extra sleeping blankets and cushions to sleep on, and then created a warm fire in the center of their encampment. He then summoned some food from the pantries from the castle on Dondar.

Once fed, Score quickly climbed into his sleeping roll. "'Night people," he called out and instantly fell asleep.

Helaine and Pixel gave each other knowing looks. Score was the most drained of them all, as he was the main caster of the egg spell.

"I'll take first watch," Helaine volunteered. "Are you sure?" Pixel asked, yawning as he did so. Helaine just grinned.

"I think you need sleep more than I do. I'll wake you for the next watch." Pixel nodded his agreement, and followed Score's example.

Helaine sat facing the fire, hesitant to even consider sleep. Would she have the same nightmares again?


	15. The Golden Forest

Disclaimer: _Diadem: Worlds of Magic _does NOT belong to me. It belongs to Peel and his publishers, currently Llewellyn Worldwide. I highly respect his work and am making no profit from this, nor do I intend for this piece of fan fiction to interfere with his profits.

Author's Note: Takes place sometime after _Book of Nightmares_ and before _Book of War_

**-------**

_**Diadem: Book of Thoughts**_

**CHAPTER 15: "Golden Forest"**

**by Luna**

--------

The sound of flesh contacting flesh reverberated from Morphos' strike. Shanara's cheek turned red from his slap.

''You failed me! How could you? You're always spoiling my fun!'' raged Morphos.

Shanara showed no outward reaction to her son's outburst. ''I am sorry, my son.''

''You should be,'' pouted Morphos. He hadn't entirely expected the Griffins to have killed the trio, but he had hoped for a great battle to watch in his mother's scrying pool. He was puzzled. He had read their minds thoroughly. There was nothing about them he didn't know, but he still couldn't understand how the evil potential of the Triad existed in those pacifist brats.

"Next time, they'll put on a good show!" He laughed demoniacally.

Pixel woke up, surprised that Helaine hadn't called him for watch duty yet. It was only a few hours before dawn.

"We all need to be in top shape, and that includes you," he scolded when she tried to refuse rest. Reluctantly, she agreed. It wasn't long until Helaine started violently tossing and turning, crying out in her sleep as she did so. Alarmed, but not overly surprised, Pixel shook Helaine awake.

"Not again…" she murmured; her face in her shaking hands.

"Helaine, you have to tell us what these nightmares are about," Pixel demanded.

Before Helaine could utter a response, Oracle appeared before them.

He turned to look at Helaine. "I wanted to see how are psychic was doing. Reading predictions from dreams is always fun!"

With all the ruckus, even Score stirred out of bed. "Oh just great," he muttered once he saw Oracle. "What horrifying news do you bring us this time?"

Oracle looked hurt. "Don't mind Score, he's always cranky when he wakes up," smoothed Pixel.

"Am not, you blue elf-boy," retorted Score, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes.

Oracle ignored the groggy Score and turned to look at Helaine. "Surely you understand the true extent of your abilities?"

"What are you talking about?" demanded Helaine.

"You're predicting the future." Oracle explained, "It is the sixth sense Eremin had. Your nightmares have been visions, not the signs of insanity."

For a moment Helaine was stunned silent. She felt horrified. Although she had expected as much when Pixel told her about Eremin, being told for certain was another matter.

Helaine's hands clenched. "All those nightmares, the visions, the headaches, the sleepwalking… why now?"

Oracle paused to think for a moment. "Oh, part of the joys of adolescence, I suppose."

Helaine gave him a dark look. "Joys?"

"I think the most important thing right now is to hear Helaine's nightmare prediction," replied Pixel quietly, trying to drive the conversation to what was most important.

Helaine took a deep breath and tried to explain what she saw. There were parts she couldn't bring herself to speak aloud, her voice welling up in her throat, nearly chocking her. How could she say that she saw their bloody deaths, at her hands? By the time she had finished, the sun was rising.

Pixel and Score's faces were grave. Overall, they had a good idea of what she had seen.

''No wonder you didn't want to tell us about it. That's some nightmare!'' commented Pixel, trying to keep the air light.

Helaine rubbed her temples, frustrated. ''It's all been coming true. Morphos is the same figure I keep seeing in my dreams."

There was a long pause as the gravity of the situation sank in.

"Well," spoke Pixel. "I guess we should be heading out. We can't do anything standing around."

The other two nodded their agreement. They mounted their ponies, and before they took off, Pixel summoned their camp items back to the castle.

As they continued, the ground vegetation became sparse until a clear division formed between the woods they had traveled and the next patch of trees. Unlike the usual colorful leaves and bark of the native Rawn flora, the trees ahead of them appeared artificial. Every leaf, twig, branch and piece of bark was of solid gold. The entire forest was a mosaic of metal, from rich deep yellows to pale platinum white.

"I wonder why they call it the Golden Forest?" joked Score, sarcastically.

Helaine shook her head amused, by now used to some of Score's Earth humor.

They continued through, their eyes growing fatigued from the lack of diversity, replacing their previous awe.

Helaine halted her steed. ''Listen!'' she whispered, her tone urgent.

Score and Pixel obeyed without question. The only audible sound was the metallic clinking of the leaves in the wind.

''What's wrong?'' asked Score skeptically. ''I don't hear a thing,''

Helaine's eyes were closed as she concentrated. "Don't you hear the buzzing?" Score shook his head.

Pixel looked concerned. "Remember what Gunther said? I think we should get some ear plugs."

Clumsily, Score dismounted and picked up some pebbles from the ground floor. When next he opened his palm, they contained three sets of large ear plugs.

He handed them to his friends. Helaine reopened a telepathic communication between them, so they could still speak to each other.

Get ready, she mind spoke to them. They'll be coming from the sky she pointed at an opening in the tree tops.

Moments later, what appeared to be a giant, shimmering cloud erupted from the sky and descended upon them. They had the appearance of large dragon flies, their colors shimmering and changing like mother of pearl. Even with their ear plugs, they could hear their high-pitched buzzing.

The shrill noise soon became the least of their concerns. The insects surrounded them, biting and sucking blood from any exposed piece of flesh.

They tried to urge their ponies onward, but the colorful swarm confused and disoriented them, and they refused to take commands. They bucked and screamed, and no amount of mental commands from Helaine could calm them. All three riders were thrown off, and the ponies bolted. It was the last they ever saw of them.


	16. Bugs, Bats, & Spiders! Oh, My!

Disclaimer: _Diadem: Worlds of Magic_ does NOT belong to me. It belongs to Peel and his publishers, currently Llewellyn Worldwide. I highly respect his work and am making no profit from this, nor do I intend for this piece of fan fiction to interfere with his profits.

Author's Note: Takes place sometime after _Book of Nightmares_ and before _Book of War._

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**Diadem: Book of Thoughts**

**CHAPTER 16: "Bugs, Bats, and Spiders! Oh, My!"**

**by Luna**

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_"We need to run for it!"_ Score mentally called to his friends, unable to see them through the swarm.

As they ran Score, Pixel and Helaine launched fireballs to keep them back, but it barely had any effect. In desperation, Score summoned a rainstorm; as fire proved ineffective, he hoped the water would deter them. It slowed them down only for a moment. The air remained thick with them and the attack was as strong as before.

_"Pixel, think of something!_" shouted Score, mentally.

_"I'm thinking!_" he shouted back. Helaine had her sword in hand, slicing and cutting into the air. The insects had clustered around her like a blanket, giving her the opportunity to slice at them effectively.

_"Got it!_" yelled Pixel, a solution at hand. _"Hope you guys aren't chiroptophobic."_

Suddenly insects were not the only creatures they had in the sky. Bats fluttered all around them, in even greater number than the insects. Pixel's solution was a biological one: summon a natural predator for insects.

The bats effectively disposed of and scared away the buzzing blood-suckers before suddenly disappearing into thin air. Although Pixel could not teleport other creatures away, anything he summoned to him he could send back to its original location.

The trio sat down, exhausted from their ordeal.

They were covered in bites, (which thankfully had not swelled), but were painful and bled slightly.

"Remind me to kill Morhos when I see him!" Score said as he nursed his bug bitten arm.

Helaine sighed, equally upset. "I just wish healing magic was more a matter of study than a matter of innate talent."

Pixel lifted up his arms and hands to show his friends. They were perfectly healed. "This injury is easy. Just speed up the personal time of your skin. Your body will naturally close and heal."

The trick worked and the trio once again set off. Only this time, they were forced to go on foot.

''Stop,'' said Helaine after an hour, raising her arm. ''Trouble.''

''My favorite word,'' muttered Score sarcastically. ''Do you know where, or what?''

Helaine closed her eyes, trying to pinpoint the source of her premonition. ''I think it's above us. It's dark, evil. It doesn't belong in this forest.''

The trio stood still, tense and alert.

''We need to back away, now!'' warned Helaine, and they did what she said. Suddenly, a dozen hideous arachnid beings dropped from the trees. They landed in the same spot the magic-users had occupied seconds before Helaine's warning.

They appeared to be a nightmarish combination of human and spider. Their bodies were dull black and furry, each between three and four feet long. Their heads looked human, with scraggly hair matted with blood and dirt. Their mouths were twisted into an open mouthed smirk, revealing sharp, predatory teeth accented by two large fangs. The males were mottled, while the females were midnight black.

When Helaine saw them she froze in terror, something that had never happened to her before. These demonic creatures were not a new sight to her. She had seen them in her dreams. The word ''Aranha'' came to her mind, but she did not know how she knew their name. She forced herself to shake away the fear.

The creatures circled the trio. Their fangs were bared, but they made no other move to strike.

''Pixel, Score, these things are agile and can shoot out webbing to trap you.''

Score looked surprised. ''You know about these--these... things?''

Helaine nodded tersely. "I saw them in my nightmares. They are called the Aranhan.''

With more grace than seemed possible, Morphos and Shanara dropped from the treetops from a vine of webbing. Morphos was clearly gloating, while Shanara's face remained blank.

"I've had fun watching your misadventures," taunted Morphos. "Isn't that right, Mother?"

"Yes, my son," answered Shanara. Her voice was dull and lifeless; not at all like her own. "I was happy to show them to you in my scrying pool."

Helaine, Score and Pixel tried hard to reign in their shock. Morphos had managed to seize Shanara's mind?

The child turned toward the trio. "Did you enjoy Mother's little illusion? I know I did."

''The Griffin family?'' asked Pixel.

''Of course. I had Mother conjure up an illusion that you three destroyed the Griffin's eggs."

''Were the eggs destroyed?'' asked Helaine through clenched teeth.

"Of course," replied Morphos without any remorse, "but enough talking. It's been a long time since my pets drank human blood."

"Let 'em starve!'' yelled Score, appalled at Morphos and the Aranhan. The creatures laughed sinisterly and started to advance.

Helaine instinctively whipped out her sword and rushed to meet her opponents. Although she had grown more accustomed to using magic, nothing made her feel safer and more capable than using her blade in direct combat. In a graceful arch, her sword decapitated one of the Aranhan. Although dead, its body continued to thrash and twitch randomly. Black blood glistened on Helaine's sword. The other Aranhan screamed at her in human voices, but backed cautiously out of Helaine's sword range.

Pixel took advantage of their momentary retreat and took out his topaz, which enhanced his ability to create fire. He formed multiple fireballs and launched them at a progressing female Aranha. She leapt away from the first two fireballs and easily dodged the rest. Score held his emerald, transforming the ground beneath the Aranhan into laughing gas, to create trap pits. These were partially successful. It slowed the Aranhan down, but they would either leap out of the pits or shoot out webbing to escape before the gas could take effect.

''We can't keep this up for long,'' panted Score. ''Our magic doesn't seem to have any effect on them, and they won't get close enough to let Helaine use her sword.''

Helaine sheathed her sword and snatched up her bow and an arrow. She aimed, and fired. ''Don't lose hope yet.''

The arrow buried itself into a male Aranha's face, just below its glowing green eye.

Morphos laughed. ''Is that the best you can do?''

Score managed to grin at Helaine in the midst of battle. "Why is it all these villains speak in cliches?"

Helaine smiled back and returned to the task at hand. Helaine concentrated on her sapphire and launched all twenty arrows that were in her quiver in the Aranhan's direction.

The Aranhan dodged out of the way, but with her power of levitation Helaine guided them towards their intended opponents. The arrows struck three of the Aranhan and each howled in pain. Their wounds oozed thick, dark blood. They lay down, never to get up again.

Lightening fast, heavy, dust-gray webs shot out of the remaining Aranhan' abdomens. The webbing clamped around the trio and froze them in place. They were covered in webbing from their shoulders to their feet.

Helaine twisted, trying to reach her dagger from its hidden place in her right boot. She couldn't reach far enough. She tried levitating it, but the webs were wound tight around her body, making it impossible to get it free. She could see Score and Pixel struggling as well.

Morphos laughed maliciously at their pathetic attempt to escape. ''Come on, you're hardly any fun to watch.''

Helaine bit her tongue. _You'll get him soon enough_, she thought to herself. Insults are indecent of a warrior and would not solve anything.

''Relax guys,'' said Score calmly. ''These webs are history.'' Score closed his eyes and concentrated through his emerald. Score's eyes flew open. Nothing happened.

''It didn't work!'' Score yelled, frustrated. ''I tried to change the webs into something else, but my magic had no effect.''

Morphos was laughing hysterically, tears in his eyes.

''Let me try something,'' suggested Pixel. Pixel focused on his topaz and on the webs holding them prisoner. Cautiously, he formed the image of the webs melting away.

Pixel tried to break free, but the webs were as strong as before. ''I don't get it. My magic didn't work either.''

''Well, if we can't directly affect the webs then we need to change ourselves,'' said Helaine with a mischievous smile. Helaine focused her mind on her opal, increasing her ability to change her own form. There was a tingling throughout her body. She could feel herself fill with power, and then the change began. The magic from the opal seemed to flow around her like a second skin, and she could feel her body altering.

The first change was her size, which became so large that her head reached the top of the trees. As she grew, the webs that had held her tightly in place snapped. Next, Helaine's skin became covered with fiery red scales. Her neck stretched, and her face grew longer. Her hair contracted and soon her head was no longer human, but dragon. Enormous wings sprouted from her back. Her hands became claws followed closely by the transformation of her legs and arms. The awesome power of the dragon was nearly overwhelming. It was Helaine's first shape shift into a dragon form and she loved it.

Morphos stopped laughing abruptly and stared at the gigantic beast before him. Helaine grabbed the child and lifted him up to her face.

''Release my friends, now!'' she bellowed in a gruff voice.

''Why should I?'' asked Morphos. ''What fun is there in that?''

''If you don't,'' snarled Helaine, ''I'll kill you, and I guarantee that will not be fun. For you, anyway.''

Morphos pouted. She was spoiling his game! He looked around, and spotted some deep violet colored plants. He smiled wickedly.

''All right, I'll let them go. But you have to release me first. The Aranhan won't listen to me otherwise.''

Helaine felt reluctant to comply, but there didn't seem to be any alternative. She could crunch him into mush if he tried anything. With minimal care she dropped him three feet from the ground.

Morphos pretended to have trouble getting his footing and crawled on the ground. With his back towards Helaine and the others he grabbed a bundle of the purple weeds and stood up. He threw them into the air.

''Shriker Kula prior! '' he shouted and the weeds ignited. Yellow smoke filled the air. To Pixel and Score the weeds smelled sweetly, but the instant Helaine breathed in the scent she started to violently cough.

''Dragonsbane has quite a pleasant fragrant, but only for humans,'' said Morphos full of confidence. ''For dragons, it's highly toxic. It can kill an adult dragon in a matter of minutes.''

Helaine was writhing on the forest floor.

''Change back, Helaine!'' yelled Pixel. Helaine was gasping for air but managed to slowly transform back to human. The Aranhan were waiting and once Helaine had completed her change they trapped her in their webbing once more.

"Helaine?" Score asked, unable to hide the worry in his voice. The only response he got from her was more coughing. Score growled low in his throat. Morphos was going down! He formed the image of the webbing growing larger, with his amethyst acting as an amplifier. He remembered how Helaine's bindings snapped once she grew larger and was hoping to stretch the bindings until they snapped. Nothing happened. The webs remained at their normal size.

''I just don't get it!'' shouted Score angrily. ''Why won't our magic work on the webs?''

Morphos laughed again. ''Don't you three know anything? Aranhan silk can't be directly affected by magic! It's as stupid as enchanting a unicorn horn.''

Score took the time Morphos was gloating to redirect his spell. If the webs were unaffected by magic, then he'd have to change himself.

Morphos was fully reading the trio's minds now, not wanting to be taken off guard like he was with Helaine. He instantly realized Score's plan for escape. ''Stop him!'' he commanded. ''Use more webbing if you have to, but don't let him escape!''

The Aranhan surrounded Score and enveloped him in even more webbing. Score was as large as Helaine was when she had become a dragon, but he still wasn't large enough to break the extra bindings of the Aranhan. Realizing that his plan was futile, Score shrank himself back to normal.

''Scratch the 'changing ourselves' idea,'' he muttered to himself. One of the Aranhan bared its yellow, rotting teeth inches above Helaine's face, taunting her to try and break free again. Venom dripped from his fangs. Its breath reeked of dust, decay, and blood.

''Giving up so soon, dearie?'' cackled another Aranha, badgering her to escape, but Helaine was satisfied to suck in the air her burning lungs were yearning for.

Morphos shook his head in mock disappointment. ''Tsk, tsk tsk. And I thought you'd be better sport than that. You were once the Triad! Oh, well. Time to eat, my pretties.''

''Wait!'' yelled Pixel, trying to buy some time. A desperate plan was forming in his mind. Morphos' love of games could be his undoing.

''What fun is there in killing us when you could --oh, never mind." Pixel purposely interrupted himself, drawing Morphos' curiosity. "You wouldn't like that game.''

Morphos thought for a moment. He knew Pixel and the others were only trying to trick him into saving their lives, but he had total confidence in himself; he could handle anything they had in plan for him.

''I know what you're doing, but tell me anyway! I demand that you tell me!'' he whined. He looked as if he was about to throw a temper tantrum.

''Well, how about a contest? If we win you let us go free, if you win you get to kill us.''

Morphos looked thoughtful. ''But I could kill you now,'' he pointed out.

''Yeah, but what fun is in that?'' added Score, catching on to Pixel's plan.

''We had fighting tournaments all the time back on Ordin,'' chimed in Helaine, her voice slightly hoarse but her breathing back to normal. ''They were always great fun.''

''What are the rules?''

Pixel smiled. ''First of all, you can't read our minds, otherwise you'd know what we were about to do and the game wouldn't be as interesting.''

''All right, I'll agree to that. What else!'' Morphos was growing impatient with excitement.

''Um, I don't know,'' admitted Pixel.

''I got it!'' shouted Morphos, practically jumping up and down in anticipation. ''Only one of you can fight. I'll roll a three sided die to decide. And... and you guys will have to have limitations too. It's only fair if I'm not allowed to read your mind.''

''Uh, what kind of 'limitations'?'' asked Score, starting to think Pixel's plan was actually a bad one.

"When you fight it will have to be alone. If you fight me, Score, then you can't use any jewels to help yourself in magic. If Helaine fights she can only use her magic, no weapons or physical attacks of any kind. I don't want her killing me like she did Anarak. And if Pixel fights he can use anything he likes to win, within the rules of course."

"Hey, I think I've been insulted," whispered Pixel.

"Keep quiet!'' replied Score. "If he's giving you an edge, use it!"

"Do you all agree?" asked Morphos.

The three looked at one another, unsure of which course of action to take.

"I want an answer! If you won't play the game I'll have my Aranhan eat you now and get it over with."

"Agreed," they said in unison.

Morphos pulled out a three sided die out of his pocket. Each side had a different color; blue, green, and red, but no numbers.

"Blue is Helaine, green is Score, and red is Pixel," Morphos explained.

As if in slow motion, the die fell from the boy's fingertips to the earth bellow, bouncing once and rolling on the ground before coming to a final rest where they could all see.

Score's eyes widened and his stomach clenched in worry. Pixel felt the stirrings of guilt, knowing it was his plan that had set this in motion.

All eyes turned to Helaine, who stared at the blue face of the die with a steady determination.

"Fine. When do we begin?"

"The game will begin in three hours, right here," explained Morphos. "Pixel and Score will stay with me. You, Helaine, can leave to do whatever you like. I want this game to be interesting. If you're not here in three hours, I'll kill your friends. Understand?"

Helaine gave the boy a look that could curdle milk. "Yes."

"Silla, release the girl," ordered Morphos to the largest female Aranha.

The Aranha bowed submissively. The webs on Helaine turned liquid and flowed away.

Free, Helaine cleaned her sword and turned to talk to her friends.

Once Helaine was no longer facing Morphos, her mask of calm fell. Pixel was surprised to see genuine fear on Helaine's face, something he had never before thought he would see.

''I know that I'm going to lose,'' she said, her voice shaking.

''What? You don't know that for sure,'' responded Pixel.

''You don't understand,'' protested Helaine. ''I saw this, all of this,'' she said with a wide sweeping motion of her hand, ''in my nightmares."

The images from her dreams flashed through Helaine's mind: her friends lying motionless on the ground, a small dark figure -- whom she now knew was Morphos -- laughing at her, a strange talisman around her neck, the blood on her hands and the burdening knowledge that she had failed them.

"I saw Morphos, and even wrote on the wall in my sleep about him. I knew about the Aranhan. I saw parts of my battle with Morphos. I lost and you two were--were lying on the ground... I just know he'll, he'll-''

''Helaine, if you don't fight him, then we're already dead and the rest of the Diadem will have to face him,'' Pixel pointed out.

"I thought you were the all mighty warrior princess," joked Score, purposely calling her "princess" to encourage and provoke her into her usual aggressive self. It was bad enough hearing that Helaine had predicted their own deaths in this tournament, but seeing her this distressed gave him the chills. Usually he was the one with cold feet. If Helaine didn't even think they would survive this, what chance did they have?

She gave him a hard look for his sarcastic remark, and then sighed. The frightened look was replaced with a new determination. ''I'll try my best, and... well, what's the use of predicting the future if you can't change it?''

''Be careful Helaine, and good luck,'' said Score his voice without humor, only sincerity. At Helaine's surprised yet touched look, he changed back to his usual jesting personality. ''We need you to win. I'm getting a leg cramp from being stuck in these webs.'' This brought a smile to Helaine. Score was always complaining about something.

An inkling of a plan was forming, but she knew better than to stay around with a mind-reader. She turned away from him and created a Portal. It was strange, summoning one without the aid of her friends. It took a great deal more concentration than she expected. Helaine walked through the spatial rift, the Portal closing behind her.

"Can't we kill the rest of them, just a little bit?" whined the smallest Aranha. Morphos shook his head.

"Can we at least eat the small one?" asked another, tapping Pixel with his clawed arm. Pixel shuddered.

''No, they're going to be the game pieces.''

''But what if you lose? We want to be fed!'' yelled Silla.

''You will, once the tournament is over and not a moment before!" shouted Morphos and the Aranhan backed away from him. _I will win, even if I have to break all the rules,_ thought Morphos

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AN: My inspiration for the Aranhan comes from Tamora Pierce's spidrens. I loved her _Imortals_ saga.


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